The federal government on Tuesday will introduce legislation that would allow the self-employed to opt into the employment insurance plan and collect parental leave benefits.

A senior government official told CBC news that once the legislation is passed, anyone wanting to opt in would have to pay regular EI premiums for a year before taking a leave.

Once a self-employed person has accessed EI, they would have to continue paying premiums for as long as they are self-employed.

Extending parental leave to the self-employed was a Conservative campaign promise from the last election. The government estimates there are approximately 2.5 million self-employed Canadians.

The Conservative platform document for the 2008 election campaign estimated the cost of extending those EI benefits to the self-employed at $147 million.

Women are heavily represented among the self-employed and are a constituency the Conservatives covet, but one that has proved difficult for the party to attract.

In September, the Conservatives survived a Liberal motion of no-confidence when the NDP backed the government to ensure the speedy passage of legislation extending employment insurance benefits.