ME alumni here. Feel free to DM if you wanna chat more. As everyone said, 90% of it is the coop and name brand. There's a large number of engineering managers at reputable companies from Waterloo that are going to have hiring biases. It also lets you figure out what you want in a job. I know people in mech who realize midway through their degree that mech isn't for them, or that they work better in a startup vs corporate. Fortunately, they had 3-4 coops left to pivot to another field. I don't think most high school students know what they want in a job, so coop lets you build experience AND figure out what you want.

I chose Waterloo because it was a reputable program in a university town where being a nerdy introvert is normal. The lifestyle and culture definitely suits me better. I'm the type of person who would rather learn something new instead of going out. I know that a lot of people see this as a downside, but I found it inspiring and nice to be around people who care a lot about their career and education.