Prior to joining the University of Ottawa as professor of Public and International Affairs, Ravi spent 18 years as a researcher in a number of federal departments including, The Secretary of State, Multiculturalism and Citizenship, Canadian Heritage, and, Human Resources and Social Development. Through his work with government he built a research agenda on diversity, with a goal toward assessing the socioeconomic characteristics of language, immigrant and ethnic groups in Canada and other settler societies. This work has continued over the last decade at the university

Much of his research has been quantitative in nature, using a variety of data sources including census and other micro datasets, as well as immigration intake records. This work suggests that non-white minorities, even those born in Canada face substantial earnings penalties even after controlling for basic personal characteristics. Other work has attempted to study the relationship between interaction and participation (social capital) and ethnicity.

Another stream of research links social capital attributes to outcomes for minorities in Canada, the United States and Europe. More recently he has focused both teaching and research efforts on issues related to Canada’s indigenous population.