That would imply they are designed for road lever travel (whatever that is, does anyone have numbers for this?). Back before the DiaComp Aero levers came about road brakes used a 4:1 ratio, which was a better match for cantilevers. The current 5.6.:1 road brake levers when used without a TA only provide about 40% of the travel needed for a linear-pull/V-brake, but about 70% of what a conventional cantilever needs.

But since cantilevers are used on mountain bikes, that implies they are designed for flat-bar brake levers. Were, not necessarily so today, per Retro Grouch's comments. However, unlike linear-pull / V-brakes, conventional cantilever brakes have variable mechanical leverage based on how you set up the yoke / straddle cable which permits some adaptability inherent to the brake itself in addition to any alternate brake anchor positions used on current MTB levers. Frankly, most folks today simply run either V-brakes or discs on mountain bikes. Of course, the problem with the yoke / straddle cable and mountain bikes was tire clearance which, when coupled with heel clearance with the arms, is what precipitated the linear-pull / mountain bike specific designs. However, back to road bike use, you'll find a wealth of information on how to properly adjust cantilevers at Sheldon Brown's Website.

And the article says they have to "import" (really, almost everything is imported) special cantilevers. This is interesting because last time I checked they were fabricating their own tandem cantilever brakes in-house. Their in-house canti purportedly fairly cost-effective and simple to produce.

1. Canti's, obv. But which ones? Most of the newer canti's have been modified to work well with STI/Ergo brake levers. I'll defer to the folks who are using what's out there.