The standards were pretty high in Quebec when I went. I don't think I would have succeeded as well as I did if not for them.
The kids in the extended family all went to different schools, the latest to graduate was about 5 years ago. We have 2 accountants, 1 doctor, 1 biochemist, 1 dentist, 2 pharmacists, 1 architect, 1 engineer. So they must have been doing a reasonable job of it