The United States has pledged to inform Canada immediately whenever our nationals are deported from the United States for security reasons.

U.S. President George Bush made the announcement Tuesday following a breakfast meeting with Prime Minister Paul Martin at the Summit of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico.

"I will assure Canadians that we will work very closely with the Martin government... on passport issues. And one of the things that I promised him today is that there will be notification prior to any consideration of deportation," Bush told reporters.

"We owe it to their government to be forthcoming and forthright."

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham confirms that both countries have agreed to "formal notification and expeditious consultation with one another on such cases as they arise."

He said he was pleased with the new "consular understanding," calling it unprecedented.

"International law does not oblige countries to consult before deporting nationals to third countries. Canada is now the only country that has such an understanding with the U.S. Thus, this understanding represents an unprecedented step," he said in a statement.

Martin told reporters the deal will work both ways.

"The right to deport a national of another country is a right that exists in international law. And it's a right which Canada has reserved for itself," he explained.

"What we are looking at here is a carveout from established international law, which is that not only will consular service be provided, but there will be pre-notification and the right to consult on what should happen will take place."

The point of the pledge is to avoid another situation like the Maher Arar case, in which the Canadian government was kept in the dark about Washington's plans for the Syrian-Canadian.

The U.S. deported Arar to Syria in September 2002 on suspicion of terrorist ties, as he returned from a vacation. He spent 10 months in a Syrian jail, where he says he was tortured, before being returned home to Ottawa. He was never charged with any crime.

Canadian officials said Ottawa had no chance to object to the detention and to demand Arar be returned to Canada. They say American officials did not respect the Canadian passport.

Scott Brison, the parliamentary secretary for Canada-U.S. relations, called the pact significant.

"We have to ensure that the Canadian passport is respected," Brison told Canada AM.

"And I think that an agreement to ensure consultation in the future prior to any arbitrary deportation of a Canadian national would be a significant victory for Mr. Martin's first meeting with President Bush."

Martin has made improving Canada-U.S. ties one of his top priorities. The relationship between the two neighbours has been hard-hit by a number of issues, including Ottawa's decision to stay out of the Iraq war.

This deal, which government sources told The Globe and Mail came together in the last three days, could put Martin on the right track.