"Make no mistake, Canada is absolutely committed to staying the course in the region where we are today and we will be there tommorow," Martin told reporters. "We'll be there as long as it takes."

The offer, the latest in an unprecedented global outpouring of aid, came on the eve of an international donor conference in Geneva on the disaster which killed at least 156,000 people.

It put Canada, one of the Group of Seven industrial powers, with a population of around 32 million, in the top rank alongside other top government donors like the United States, Japan and Australia.

Canada's contribution came in just short of the 350 million dollar government aid contribution from the much larger United States, though the US Defense Department is paying millions of extra dollars to mobilise its forces in Asia in the relief effort.

"We are increasing our commitment in Southeast Asia, it goes from 80 million dollars (66 million US) to 425 million dollars (348.5 million) over a five-year period" Martin told reporters.

Martin also announced that private Canadian citizens had raised 150 million Canadian dollars (123 million US) in donations -- which the government will match dollar for dollar until Tuesday.

The outpouring of public support for tsunami victims was highlighted meanwhile as one couple, record store tycoons Kroum and Eva Pindoff, announced a five million dollar (4.1 million US) donation to relief efforts.

"After seeing more stark images of this tremendous tragedy and misery, my wife and I were up most of the night, grief-stricken," Kroum Pindoff said, as he handed over a cheque to the Canadian Red Cross.

The prime minister's announcement came days before he was due to travel to tsunami-hit regions of Sri Lanka and Thailand, and a week after the government doubled its initial aid pledge to 66 million US dollars.

The new aid offer includes a 217 million US dollar package including an already announced debt moratorium, funds for a Canadian disaster team at work in Sri Lanka and matching funds for private donations to charities.

A second tranche worth 131 million US dollars will be funnelled through the Canadian International Development Agency, for long-term rehabilitation and rebuilding projects in tsunami-hit regions, Martin said.

Officials earlier said that six Canadian citizens were dead or presumed dead in the tsunami waves, whipped up by an earthquake, which battered coastlines around the Indian Ocean on December 26.

Another 37 people have been posted as missing, while 285 reamined unaccounted for, though some may simply have failed to make contact with relatives or the government.

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