Job Mismatch, Overeducation and Overqualification in Canada: A Comparative Study of Immigrant and Native-Born Graduates From Canadian Postsecondary Institutions

This study examines job mismatch among immigrant and Canadian-born graduates of Canadian postsecondary institutions. Job mismatch is an important dimension of labour market integration, but widely used measures, such as overeducation based on the formal educational requirements of a job, may not capture the nuance of graduates' employment outcomes. Overeducation and overqualification capture different aspects of mismatch, reflecting the alignment of formal educational requirements and broader assessments of skills, education, and experience. Examining both measures is therefore important for understanding how immigrants and Canadian-born graduates experience the transition from postsecondary education to employment. The analyses utilized data from the 2018 National Graduates Survey to examine 18,794 graduates who completed postsecondary education in Canada in 2015 and entered the labour market by 2018. Bivariate probit models jointly estimated overeducation and overqualification, adjusting for immigration status, sociodemographic characteristics, and educational factors. Mediation analyses assessed whether educational characteristics explained differences between immigrant and Canadian-born graduates. Overall, respondent groups differed in the probability of experiencing distinct combinations of mismatch. For example, joint probability estimates demonstrated recent immigrants were more likely than Canadian-born graduates to report both forms of mismatch simultaneously, whereas established immigrants were more likely to report overeducation in the absence of overqualification. Overeducation and overqualification capture distinct dimensions of job mismatch and offer valuable insights into immigrant labour market integration. Jointly examining both measures highlights the importance of incorporating multiple measures of job mismatch when examining labour market integration and demonstrates the limitations of relying on overeducation alone.