B.C. Finance Minister Carole James says the province lost 132,000 jobs last month, but it's going to get worse before it gets better due to the COVID-19 pandemic.She says the latest Statistics Canada Labour Force numbers indicate B.C.'s jobless rate rose to 7.2 per cent from 5 per cent in March.James says she expects the jobless numbers to increase over the coming weeks as they indicate the ongoing impact of the pandemic on the economy and workers and families.She says the province has introduced a $5 billion action plan to help workers, families and businesses endure the pandemic.

Even with strong containment measures, as many as 22,000 Canadians could die of COVID-19 in the coming months.That's the worst-case scenario set out by federal public health officials this morning at a briefing in Ottawa.The Public Health Agency of Canada says short-term estimates are more reliable, and that up to 700 people could die by the end of next week.Officials warn that if people don't obey social distancing and self-isolation rules, the death toll could be much higher.Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam says ``we cannot prevent every death but we must prevent every death that

WestJet says it plans to bring back nearly 6,400 employees on to its payroll with the help of Ottawa's emergency wage subsidy program.WestJet chief executive Ed Sims made the announcement in a video posted to Twitter.He says employees will be back on the company payroll once the federal government has approved the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program.Air Canada made a similar announcement on Wednesday that it would use the program to bring back about 16,500 employees.Sims says it doesn't mean all the employees will be automatically coming back to work because there might not be work for them

Provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry is reporting five more deaths from COVID-19 in B.C. including three residents of long-term care or assisted living facilities. Henry says another resident has died amid an outbreak at the Lynn Valley care centre and the other two deaths occurred at a care home with no previous fatalities. She says the province has recorded 45 new cases for a total of 1,336, including 48 deaths. The number of hospitalizations is down slightly but Henry says people need to stay home over the Easter weekend to limit the spread of the virus.

People returning to British Columbia from other countries will be required to present self-isolation plans or they will be placed in quarantine. The government says it will have officials in place starting Friday at Vancouver International Airport and major land border crossings to make sure the plans are complete. Premier John Horgan says forms will be available online to help travellers, and those arriving by air will be given the document. The document can be submitted online or completed on arrival, and must indicate how returning travellers plan to keep themselves in self-isolation for 1

The British Columbia government is closing all provincial parks to ensure compliance with recommendations to stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.A statement from the Environment and Climate Change Ministry says the closure applies to everyone, from B.C. and out-of-province, who may have been planning a trip to a provincial park.Minister George Heyman says efforts were made to provide spaces for exercise and fresh air in the parks but it ``has proven too challenging'' to maintain safe physical distancing of two metres between visitors.The timing of the decision is aimed at heading off Ea

Canada's deputy minister of foreign affairs has tested positive for COVID-19. Marta Morgan has been the top official in the department for just under a year, after leading the Immigration Department, and is the first woman to hold the job. Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne shared the diagnosis on Twitter. He wished Morgan a full and speedy recovery and called her an invaluable part of the foreign-affairs team. Several ministers and MPs have isolated themselves out of concern that they have the respiratory illness but Morgan is the most senior Canadian government figure to test positive. Cha

Four more people have died as a result of COVID-19 in British Columbia. The total number of deaths is at 43 in the province. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, says 25 new cases have been diagnosed. A total of 12 hundred and 91 people have tested positive for the new coronavirus in BC.

Ontario is reporting 379 new cases of COVID-19 today, including 21 more deaths.That brings the totals in the province to 4,726 confirmed cases, including 153 deaths and 1,802 cases that have been resolved.The new cases represent an 8.7 percent increase over Monday, marking the second day in a row that the growth rate has been under 10 percent.There are now 614 people in Ontario hospitalized with COVID-19, with 233 of them in intensive care and 187 of those people on ventilators. There are at least 51 long term care homes in Ontario with one or more cases of COVID-19, and there have been at lea