OTTAWA, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday that the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program will be extended for two months as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Trudeau said there's a long journey ahead before all sectors bounce back and all who have been laid off find jobs.

"The reality is that even as we start to reopen, a lot of people still need this support to pay their bills while they look for work," Trudeau said at a press conference.

The 16-week CERB program, which was launched in April, has provided taxable payments of 2,000 Canadian dollars (about 1,475 U.S. dollar) per month to help Canadians who lost income because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Over the next few weeks, our government will look at international best practices, and monitor the economy and the progression of the virus to see what changes - if any - need to be made to the program so that more people are supported," Trudeau said.

As of June 4, the Trudeau government has reportedly provided a total of 43.5 billion Canadian dollars to send more than 8.4 million Canadians the CERB monthly payments.