Photo: The Canadian Press

A young man smokes a marijuana joint during a rally in downtown Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday April 20, 2011.

Travellers to Canada will be asked whether they are bringing marijuana into the country as Ottawa moves to legalize recreational pot use.

Peter Hill, a senior Canada Border Services Agency official, tells MPs on the Commons public safety committee that signs will also be posted at major ports of entry to remind people that the unauthorized importation of pot remains illegal.

The Liberals plan to allow adults to legally possess and use marijuana by next July, saying it will help keep the drug out of the hands of young people while denying profits to criminal organizations.

The government is devoting more than $110 million over five years to Public Safety, the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency to ensure organized crime does not infiltrate the legalized system and to keep pot from crossing borders.

The border agency says the new question to travellers about marijuana will be similar to those that officers already ask about other controlled or prohibited goods, such as firearms, food and animal products.

The agency says plans for signs at the border are still under development.