Michael Nikiforov A building at the University of Toronto. A new report from CIBC says Canada needs to overhaul its education system.

High tuition fees at Canada's post-secondary schools are worsening income inequality and adding to a mismatch between education and the economy, according to a new report from economists at CIBC.

"The cost of that mismatch is already visible in both disappointing youth employment conditions and the rising share of Canadians earning below average incomes," economists Benjamin Tal and Royce Mendes wrote.

"Those vulnerabilities will be fully exposed in the next economic downturn. The time to act is now."

The study found students are beginning to respond to the economy's needs, with a growing number opting for education in high-demand, high-paying fields such as STEM (scientific, technical, engineering and mathematics).

But those fields are also the ones where tuitions are rising fastest, potentially discouraging some students from applying, or burdening them with ever-larger debt loads.

The top Canadian universities that make graduates most employable: