Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will be extending the emergency wage subsidy program beyond its June end date ‘to help kick-start our economic re-opening and boost jobs.’

The announcement comes hours after new data from Statistics Canada revealed that a record-high nearly two million jobs were lost across the country in April as non-essential businesses were closed to limit the spread of COVID-19.

B.C.’s unemployment rate in April was 11.5 per cent, in the Thompson-Okanagan it was 9.0 per cent, while Canada’s was 13 per cent.

The wage subsidy program covers 75 per cent of a workers pay up to $847 a week to try to help employers keep employees on the job in the face of steep declines in revenue due to the pandemic.

Since it launched last week, employers have applied for the subsidy for more than two million workers, according to Trudeau, with more details to be unveiled next week.

“As provinces and territories start to gradually reopen over the coming months, and the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) becomes less and less needed, this subsidy will play an even greater role,” Trudeau said Friday, when asked if the $2,000 a month subsidy will be extended.

Trudeau also noted that the federal government will be creating an Industry Strategy Council, which will help determine how best to support the hardest hit sectors.