There's a report that the Harper government will announce on Thursday that it's lowering Employment Insurance premiums.
The Globe and Mail report says lowering premiums — effective Jan. 1, 2015 — is an effort to stimulate hiring.
The Globe quotes a senior government official as saying that the cut will be "significant" and will be called the Small Business Job Credit.
The report says Finance Minister Joe Oliver will announce the lower EI premiums Thursday morning at a hardwood flooring company in Toronto.
The government announced last year that it would freeze premiums for the next three years, saying that the program's finances were improving.
Business groups, however, have been calling for a cut, claiming that higher premiums are a disincentive to hiring new workers.
