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Immigrants account for almost a quarter of the Canadian working-age population and in the wake of the aging of the population this proportion is deemed to increase even more. Yet despite their high-level education, immigrants experience difficulty in integrating into the Canadian labour market. Many factors are put forth to account for this such as a lack of recognition for their foreign credentials, the uneven quality of their diplomas, their insufficient knowledge of the official languages, discrimination, etc. This paper points out a less frequently emphasised factor that could partly explain the immigrants’ difficulties to integrate into the labour market: their literacy skills. Using the OECD’s survey data on adult skills (PIAAC), the authors compare the literacy skills of the immigrants and the Canadian-born population. This study focuses on active participants in the labour market aged between 25 and 54 years old. Results suggest that the higher level of overqualification observed among immigrants could partly be explained by their lower literacy skill level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]