Thirty-four Canadians have been declared dead in the Haiti earthquake, and another 50 remain missing, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Monday.
Cannon said the missing may soon have to be officially acknowledged as dead considering the time that has passed since the Jan. 12 earthquake.
"It's getting to a tipping point where we will have to be able to make that determination," he said.
RCMP specialists are working to identify bodies as more are still being found in the rubble.
Canada has stopped running evacuation flights out of the quake-stricken country, after at least 4,618 people were flown to Canada on 48 flights.
Canadians in Haiti are now being asked to book flights on commercial airlines to return home, since the Port-au-Prince airport has reopened to the public.
Canadian military personnel, who numbered 2,000 at their peak, are staging a staggered withdrawal from Haiti. HMCS Halifax left on Friday.
Cannon also discussed Canada's humanitarian operation in Haiti, to date.
"As you know Canada was one of the first countries to respond to the crisis and to date we have provided aid of $85 million of cash," Cannon said, speaking in French. In addition to financial contributions, Canada has provided rescue workers, medical staff and engineers, and has supported the International Red Cross and helped deploy a field hospital in one of the hardest-hit areas, he added.
Meanwhile, the Liberals have criticized the Harper government for not appointing a high-profile, non-partisan special envoy to oversee the reconstruction of Haiti.
"Of the three leading countries leading the rebuilding efforts in Haiti, Canada is the only one to refuse to appoint a special envoy to spearhead Canadian support for Haiti for the long-term," Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae said in a press release.
The U.S. mission is being led by former presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
About 200,000 people are believed to have died in the earthquake, but there is yet to be an official death toll.
