WINDSOR, Ontario ? Canada unveiled a major border security and prosperity initiative Friday, saying it would spend more than $368 million over the next five years to protect its border from terrorist, economic and environmental threats.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day made the announcement at the Canada-U.S. border crossing between Windsor and Detroit, where one-third of the $1.6 billion in daily trade between the North American neighbors passes.

“I even sometimes surprise my American friends when I remind them that the trade that comes across the Ambassador Bridge in total is greater than all of the trade that exists between the United States and Japan,” Day told a news conference.

Security experts have long criticized the lack of security measures along Canada’s side of the 4,000-mile border with the United States, particularly since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged when he was elected nearly a year ago to strengthen the frontier between the world’s largest trading partners, including these new security measures and eventually arming Canada’s border guards.

The bulk of the money, $337 million, is for the electronic-Manifest program, which allows for computer-automated risk assessments of cargo shipments before they reach Canada.

The 18,000 trucks that cross the U.S.-Canada border each day, as well as all railroad, air and marine cargo carriers, will eventually be required to file electronic manifests before their shipments arrive. This will allow border service agents to determine in advance whether the cargo, or those who deliver it, should be further screened.

The eManifest program will ensure that background checks on crew and risk assessments of cargo are in the hands of the Canada Border Services Agency 24 hours in advance of the arrival of shipments by sea and several hours ahead of railroad, highway and air cargo.

Day would not give a precise date of when the electronic manifests would become mandatory at the 119 border crossings.