Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said Friday the federal government will fulfil an election campaign promise in its upcoming November budget with funding to hire 1,000 more Canada Border Services Agency officers.

Anandasangaree said Friday it will cost $617.7 million over five years to "train, hire and deploy 1,000 CBSA officers."

It's part of the Liberal government's promise to crack down on cross-border traffic in drugs, illegal guns and stolen cars.

"This will greatly enhance our capability at the borders, ports of entry as well as enforcement within Canada," Anandasangaree said at a media event in front of the Rainbow International Bridge crossing.

At one point when speaking with reporters, the minister stopped short of calling them "officers."

“The 1,000 officers — the 1,000 personnel. They’re not all officers, is my understanding,” he said.

A tweet by Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday also referred to the new hires as 1,000 CBSA personnel.

But Audrey Champoux, a spokesperson for the prime minister, confirmed after the announcement that the budget envelope provides funding for 1,000 new officers.

Anandasangaree also announced Ottawa will boost the CBSA's stipend for recruits for the first time in two decades, lifting it from $125 to $525 a week.

The government's attempts to bolster recruitment will include legislative changes to allow those on the front lines to retire after serving 25 years, regardless of their age.

It's the latest in a series of announcements by the Liberal government to spotlight measures in the coming fall budget, set to be released Nov. 4.

Prime Minister Carney said Thursday Ottawa plans to hire 1,000 more RCMP personnel as well, including 150 staffers who will focus on money laundering, organized crime and online fraud.

Anandasangaree insisted these latest measures have nothing to do with the Trump administration's demands for a crackdown on fentanyl trafficking.

"This really is about enforcing Canada's safety and security and our sovereignty," he said.

"This really is not a response to the U.S."

U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed repeatedly that illicit fentanyl flowing from Canada is causing a health crisis in the U.S., and has used that claim to justify unleashing a tariff barrage against Canada.

U.S. drug enforcement statistics show very small amounts of fentanyl are seized by U.S. agents at the northern border and U.S. government reports do not identify Canada as a significant source of the drug.

When asked about Trump's claims, Anandasangaree pointed to measures the federal government has adopted, including its December announcement of $1.3 billion for border security and security legislation introduced after the spring election by the Carney government.

But the Liberal government's plans for the border have run into harsh political headwinds — enough to force it to split its contentious border security bill, C-2, after it struggled to secure cross-party political support in the current minority Parliament.

Anandasangaree recently tabled C-12, a near-copy of C-2 that sheds some of that bill's controversial measures. Those measures — which remain in C-2 — would give law enforcement the power to demand access to subscriber information from internet service providers without a warrant, and allow Canada Post to open and search letter mail.

"C-12, I do believe, will have the requisite support to go through Parliament," Anandasangaree said Friday.

But critics have warned C-2 would limit the ability of people to claim asylum in Canada — provisions included in C-12 as well.

Anandasangaree said the Liberals will "do some work" to secure enough votes to pass C-2.

The government's promise to hire more RCMP and CBSA personnel has become a political target for Conservative MPs in Parliament.

In a series of testy exchanges at a parliamentary committee hearing on Oct. 9, Conservative public safety critic Frank Caputo asked how many of the promised new RCMP and CBSA officers have been hired so far.

"I asked how many were hired. Simple number," Caputo said.

"I'm not here for your TikTok videos," Anandasangaree shot back. 

When Caputo pushed specifically for the number of RCMP hires to date, the minister deferred to agency officials.

“I’m not responsible for hiring of the officers," Anandasangaree said. “The RCMP are preparing to hire 1,000."

“That is a zero, I take it then, because you wouldn’t give us a number,” Caputo said.

— Written by Kyle Duggan in Ottawa and Maan Alhmidi in Niagara Falls.