Ottawa will begin arming 4,400 border guards next year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Thursday.

But it will take at least 10 years to fully implement the plan, which includes training the guards.

Harper, speaking at the Pacific Highway border crossing in Surrey, B.C., confirmed the plans first announced in the federal budget. 

About 5,000 Canada Border Services Agency officers have been demanding to be armed like their American counterparts to help them deal with cross-border criminal activity.

They have complained that their jobs are not safe, prompting some guards to abandon their posts amid reports of armed suspects headed their way.

Harper said border guards will be armed starting in September 2007. The federal government will have at least 150 armed officers at border crossings by the end of March 2008.

He repeated a pledge from the federal budget to spend $101 million to hire 400 additional officers to double up at Canada-U.S. border crossings that only have a single officer on duty.

"We're going to take action and get things done by hiring more border officers, so they won't have to work alone, by arming border officers so they can do their job better and more effectively," Harper said. "Because secure, efficient borders matter."

No guns for airport border guards

Border guards at busy Canadian international airports will not be getting guns. The government says they already have armed police officers.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said he was disappointed that the plan will take 10 years to implement.

"Why should it take so long?" he asked.

George Scott, national vice-president of the Customs and Excise Union, said the announcement is a step in the right direction.

But he said border guards are also concerned about outdated computer systems that don't allow them to check who might be dangerous as they enter Canada.

"Sometimes we do get information, we know who's coming, but sometimes we don't know who's coming until the last minute," he said.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said the government is aware of that issue and working on it.