Military personnel prepare to leave on a Disaster Assistance Response Team mission to Haiti on Wednesday. The army has 800 additional troops on standby.Military personnel prepare to leave on a Disaster Assistance Response Team mission to Haiti on Wednesday. The army has 800 additional troops on standby. (Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press)

The army has put 800 troops on standby for possible peacekeeping deployment to Haiti as the Canadian government continues to organize relief efforts for the earthquake-ravaged country, military sources have confirmed.

The troops are still waiting for a mandate from the government, expected to be announced Saturday morning by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The soldiers would be drawn from Canadian Forces Base Valcartier, near Quebec City.

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The designated battalion is the French-speaking Royal 22nd Regiment, more commonly known as the Van Doos.

The deployment would include a "battalion light" of 450 soldiers, consisting of two infantry companies and a battalion headquarters.

The additional 350 personnel would include an engineering company, a service company, a logistics team and medical elements.

Warning orders have reportedly been flashed to the units earmarked for the assignment.

Sixty vehicles have also been pre-positioned for the mission.

Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, shown in 2007, will command the 800 soldiers expected to be sent to Haiti.Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, shown in 2007, will command the 800 soldiers expected to be sent to Haiti. (Jacques Boissinot/Canadian Press)

The overall commander is slated to be Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, formerly Canada's top commander in Afghanistan.

The troops are said to be ready to start moving as soon as the mission is green-lighted, subject to the availability of aircraft.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay confirmed Friday that 144 Canadian military personnel are already on the ground with more to come.

Those troops are expected to help prepare for the arrival of the soldiers from Valcartier, sources said.

Haiti contacts

Canadians with family in Haiti can call the Foreign Affairs Emergency Operations Centre in Ottawa at 800-387-3124 or 613-943-1055, or email sos@international.gc.ca. Canadians in Haiti can get in touch with Canadian Embassy officials in Port-au-Prince by calling 613-996-8885.

They include the first wave of Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team — a Hercules transport aircraft with a 20-person Canadian Forces assessment group.

Four more flights were expected to arrive Friday carrying rescue equipment, humanitarian supplies and additional RCMP and Canadian Forces members.

Two Canadian warships, HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Halifax, are also expected to arrive in four days or so with additional relief equipment.

With files from The Canadian Press