I disagree. The extracurricular war in American is minor compared to the schedule of many Chinese students.
And they hire consultants to get their kids in top global schools and plan around the strategy early.

I think Europe is not attuned that way, just like Canada. They don't have that for Canadian schools. You are a top student you can get into U of Toronto, which is on the list of top 20 in the world. Or U of Britsh Columbia, which is next.

Or many non Canadians choose McGill because it has name recognition but not the ranking. So an American can get in without the extracurriculars, pay less tuition and live in Montreal.