Canada is poised to slap sanctions on members of the Syrian regime, Â鶹´«Ã½ has learned.
The Cabinet Committee on National Security will discuss the new measures during a meeting in Ottawa on Tuesday, according to a senior federal official.
The sanctions are designed to boost pressure on the Syrian regime to refrain from using violence against protesters seeking the ouster of President Bashar Assad.
Canada will join a growing list of countries that have already imposed sanctions on key members of Assad's government.
On Monday, the European Union approved an asset freeze and a visa ban against Assad and nine other members of his regime.
Syrian security forces have launched a brutal crackdown on the weeks-old popular uprising, which has provoked strong international criticism.
More than 900 people have been killed since the mass protests began in mid-March, according to human rights groups. An unknown number of political prisoners have also been detained by security forces.
The violence has also prompted Washington to hit Syria with sanctions. Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama urged Assad to pass democratic reforms in his country or "get out of the way."
Syria's foreign minister Walid al-Moallem said Monday on state television the EU sanctions "will hurt Syrian interests" but that "history has shown that Syria does not succumb to pressure."
The uprising has posed the most significant challenge to Syria's ruling Assad family since it seized power in a coup nearly four decades ago.
Assad has attributed the mass demonstrations to purported foreign agents seeking to undermine his grip on power.
Aside from Libya, where a mass uprising against Moammar Gadhafi has led to war, Syria's death toll is higher than any other country caught in the wave of popular uprisings sweeping the Arab world.
With files from CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife and The Associated Press
