If so, is the bar generally higher for Asian applicants?
No.
Affirmative Action is an American concept. McGill, for example, admits strictly by stats.
@TomSrOfBoston, affirmative action is not solely American. Malaysia, for instance, favors some races over others in university admissions (in their case, they favor the majority race).
But yes, Canadian unis do not practice that.
@PurpleTitan Wow, I never knew affirmative action could exist to favor the majority. Learned something new.
@BlingBlingBling, learn about politics and power. The majority certainly can oppress minorites and keep privileges for themselves.
In fact, in the US, the Ivies use to have a Jewish quota in order to keep the number of Jews admitted to what they deemed a sufficiently small percentage. In fact, holistic admissions was invented by the Ivies to keep their student body what they deemed sufficiently WASPy.