Just over one year from now some of Canada's border guards will begin carrying firearms, but it will take 10 years for the plan to be fully implemented.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the announcement Thursday at a border crossing in Surrey, B.C., making good on a campaign promise to beef-up border security.

"A safe, secure and efficient border is important for Canada, and for all Canadians," Harper said. "It is vital to our country's economy, and will protect the safety and security of all of our local communities."

Under the announcement, about 150 of Canada's 5,000 border guards will be carrying side-arms by the end of March, 2008.

For years, border guards have pressed for the right to carry arms to better deal with criminal threats at borders -- currently the responsibility of the RCMP.

The Canada Border Services Agency says guards who feel their lives are in danger have the legal right to refuse to work. So far this year, guards in B.C. walked off the job at least three times.

In one instance in January, they vacated their posts after being warned that armed American fugitives were racing towards the Peace Arch border crossing south of Vancouver. Gunfire was exchanged and a murder suspect was shot in the neck in the incident.

In 2005 the guards' union even threatened to strike in an effort to force the government to provide them with guns.

Security expert Scott Newark, who drafted a report for the Conservatives on the feasibility of implementing such a plan, said Harper's announcement indicates the government is taking border security seriously.

"It's a move away from the border being a place where essentially we collect taxes -- recognition that it has a real security component to it that directly affects the safety and security of Canadians," Newark told CTV Newsnet.

On Thursday, Harper also reiterated his government's promise to hire 400 more officers at a cost of $101 million. That expenditure was included in the federal budget, and was partly designed to double the number of officers at small border crossings that typically only have one officer on duty.

"Arming CBSA officers and eliminating situations where these officers work alone will allow them to do their job better and more effectively," Harper said.

The Liberal government refused to arm Canada's border guards, saying it was too expensive, and expressing concerns that tourists would be met by gun-toting border guards.

But the Conservatives are expected to take a gradual approach, training the border guards over a number of years and eventually arming about half the workforce.