Public Safety Minister David McGuinty announced Wednesday that Canada is deploying new Black Hawk helicopters at the Canada-U.S. border to help enhance border surveillance.

Bryan Larkin, RCMP Deputy Commissioner, Specialized Policing Services says they are leasing the two helicopters, and they will be operational January 17th.

“The current model that we selected will allow us to move members across provinces across the country and so the addition of the two helicopters will give us significant coast to coast-to-coast coverage.”

The federal government says it has deployed 60 new drones along the border with the U.S. and will be deploying additional surveillance towers and purchasing new technology, such as x-rays, mobile x-rays and hand-held chemical analyzers.

The Border Plan includes an investment of $1.3 billion to further strengthen our border security with more personnel, tools, advanced technology, drones, surveillance equipment and helicopters. Minister McGuinty says they have resources to implement the plan regardless of the status of the government although they may require a few legislative changes.