Canada is all about the grades, but no standardized exams. Hence the universities, except for U of Toronto and Waterloo are not as desirbable as universities elsewhere. Waterloo is totally about grades and you have to have a 5+ to be considered for their CS or engineering programs. Kids get recruited out of their tech programs as easily as MIT and Caltech for Silcon Valley. But because there are not standardized tests, they will weight a kid from DD's school, or some other specialized STEM program higher. Not officially.