Tim Martin has been named Canada's top civilian representative in Afghanistan.

Martin will guide Canada's major aid priorities in Kandahar province, where the Canadian combat mission is currently based. That mission is slated to end next July, but Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon says aid work will continue after the military mission ends.

Martin will oversee that transition during his one-year posting.

Martin replaces Ben Rowswell, who was the third person to fill the role since it was created in March 2008.

A former ambassador to Argentina and Paraguay and director of Foreign Affairs' peacebuilding and human security division, Martin will help organize projects like the repair of the massive Dahla Dam and liaise with Afghan officials in Kandahar.

The camp where the provincial reconstruction team operates in Kandahar city was officially handed over to the United States on Friday, but Canada will continue to operate out of the base.

With files from CBC News