Flow diagram between major field of study and occupation, 2021

Released: 2025-10-16

The new Flow diagram between major field of study and occupation, 2021 Census of Population, is now available online. This interactive chart shows relationships between major field of study and occupation using a variant of the Classification of Instructional Programs 2021 and the newly developed Custom Education Grouping for Occupation and Major Field of Study Analysis, which is a custom grouping of the National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021. It was developed by the Canadian Centre for Education Statistics to address stakeholder and public interest in understanding whether postsecondary graduates are employed in occupations related to their field of study. It was designed with input from occupation and major field of study experts. The interactive chart can be further broken down based on additional information from the 2021 Census, such as the highest level of education, gender, immigration status, province and location of study.

The new Custom Education Grouping for Occupation and Major Field of Study Analysis comprises 15 groupings with one-character alphabetical codes, which comprise 66 subgroupings with a two-character alphanumeric code, which in turn are made with the 516 standard five-digit NOC codes. The full details of this grouping can be found in the document Custom Education Grouping for Occupation and Major Field of Study Analysis: Technical report.

This grouping is not intended to express a strict one-to-one relationship between occupation and major field of study. Based on census data, graduates from any given field of study often work in many different occupations that utilize their skills and training in diverse ways. By grouping occupations to better illustrate the connections between major field of study and occupation, this custom grouping may generate valuable analytical insights, help limit the need for ad hoc solutions and facilitate the comparability of research projects on the topic.

Products

The document "Custom Education Grouping for Occupation and Major Field of Study Analysis: Technical report," which is part of the Education, Learning and Training Research Paper Series (Catalogue number81-595-M), is now available.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).