Ottawa is committing up to 450 Canadian Forces personnel to Haiti as part of an international stabilization force, Defence Minister David Pratt announced Friday.

The contingent will include members of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment in Gagetown, N.B.

Also going to Haiti will be a squadron of six Griffon helicopters from 430 Squadron in Valcartier, Que. and members of the Joint Operations Group based in Kingston, Ont.

Pratt said the Canadian contingent will move "within the next few days." He said they will start to arrive "with strength" in the next five days or so.

The troops will help ensure stability, provide security for officials and help distribute aid under the mandate of the United Nations' three-month mission.

U.S. Marines faced angry protesters Friday. Canadian soldiers might face the same thing.

"Every theatre has its unique dangers," said Master Cpl. Rob Barrett of the Royal Canadian Regiment. "You really don't know 'til you get there, figure it out as you go."

Prime Minister Paul Martin, speaking in Longueuil, Que., on Friday, reiterated previous comments that Canada would remain in Haiti beyond the three-month mission -- possibly for up to a year -- to provide training to police and to help in the reconstruction of the country, from the justice system to the health care system.

"The international community left Haiti prematurely last time and we saw what happened. The international community must not make that mistake again and Canada is going to stay to ensure that doesn't happen," Martin told reporters.

He was referring to the period in the mid-1990s when the international community tried to restore order there.

At a Haitian radio station in Montreal, the announcement was news they had been waiting to report.

"It helps we have so much trouble so much problem, such a long time," said radio commentator Badiona Bazin.

Ahead of Friday's announcement, there were fears that Canada's military was already stretched too thin, something Martin admitted earlier this week.

Addressing concerns that the Canadian military is overstretched, both Pratt and the chief of defence staff, Gen. Ray Henault, said troops will be drawing down both in Bosnia and Afghanistan, leaving more soldiers free for Haiti.

"In my discussions with the chief of defence staff over the last couple of days, I am satisfied, very satisfied as a matter of fact, that this deployment is not going to have an effect on existing operations, on future operations, or on the issue of army regeneration in the coming months," Pratt said.

Colin Kenny, a senator who once chaired a committee on defence, agrees Canada can do this mission, but felt it should be kept a short-term one.

"We can't get into a long protracted involvement in Haiti ... we don't have the troops to handle it.. its not fair to the troops who are serving," he said.

Canada will be the third largest troop-contributing nation, behind the United States, which is leading the force, and France. There are 1,000 U.S. marines in Haiti, along with 440 French troops and 130 Chileans.

An uprising erupted on Feb. 5 in Haiti, with rebel forces calling for now-deposed president Jean-Bertrand Aristide to step down. He left Haiti on Sunday night for the Central African Republic, but claims he was forced out. Some accuse Washington of staging a coup.

On Friday, U.S. marines were continuing to patrol the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. They met some hostility by Aristide supporters, who held up pictures of Aristide, while others smiled.

As the tension increased last week, Canada sent nine JTF-2 special forces troops and five military planners to Haiti, along with four Hercules aircraft that have been evacuating citizens to the Dominican Republic.

The evacuations were completed on Wednesday. A total of 350 people, about 200 of them Canadian, were brought to the Dominican from Haiti.

Based on a report by CTV's John Vennavally-Rao