The Basel agreement, signed onto by Canada and most other countries, deals with needs, or regulations on asset-to-capital ratios based on the risk inherent to those assets.
For example, the risk associated with assets such as a government-insured mortgage would be zero, because there is no underlying risk. In such a case, by specifically choosing assets and risk, a bank may end up with a ratio, or an asset-to-capital ratio that is quite high, even though under the Basel agreement, it is rather low.
In Canada, we have a system that builds in limits on asset-to-capital ratios based on risk, the very straightforward cap on leveraging. It is a system with safeguards and buffers that does not even exist in most other countries of the world, and one which Canada has benefited from.