Defence Minister Bill Graham says Canada is donating an additional $3 million in tsunami and earthquake relief as Canadians scrambled to make contact with their friends and family in the affected regions.

This brings Canada's donation to a total of $4 million. The federal government committed an initial $1 million to earthquake relief aid on Sunday.

The money is going both to the International Red Cross and Canadian NGOs.

"This is an immediate response, it's not the last," Graham said during a Monday news conference.

"In addition, our embassies in the region are being beefed up with additional personnel to enable them both to help the local populations but also to trace Canadians that are in trouble in the region," Graham said.

Canada will also be providing blankets, water purification devices, and generators through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), he said.

A Canadian Forces aircraft will also be available to shuttle donated goods to affected areas.

Graham dismissed critics who called the North American response stingy and said the government "can only provide additional aid when we know more specifics about exactly what's necessary."

When asked about DART, the federal government's specialized disaster-relief team, Graham said: "The DART team is obviously a potential tool at this time. It has not been requested."

The 200-member DART team can provide things like purified water and a mobile hospital.

"It's not a question of rushing out there it's a question of being responsive to needs as we know what they are," Graham said.

The U.S. has promised $15 million, but United Nations agencies say the recovery costs will likely be in the billions of dollars.

"Acute respiratory disease always comes in the wake of these kinds of disaster," said the UN's Jan Egeland at a news conference.

Canadians respond

Groups like the Red Cross and UNICEF are meanwhile urging people to donate cash, not goods.

Donations to Red Cross from individual Canadians have topped $500,000.

UNICEF Canada president David Agnew says the response so far for donations has been "very strong."

He says he expected Canadian assistance to be high because Canadians are usually generous after natural disasters.

In Vancouver, five-year-old Cole Leonty went door to door with his dad, selling firewood to help with the relief effort. They raised about $90.

So far, one Canadian has been confirmed dead in Sri Lanka and another two in Thailand.

Two others are officially missing in Thailand and 12 are injured, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs. Of those hurt, nine remain in hospital.

Another five Canadians are unaccounted for in Indonesia, and another 11 in the Maldives.

Foreign Affairs officials said it's difficult to know how many Canadians are in the region because it's rare for them to register with consulates or embassies when they go on holiday.

Anyone who has Canadian relatives in the affected areas should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa at 1-800-387-3124; or in Ottawa at (613) 996-8885.

With a report from CTV's Genevieve Beauchemin