At the age of 21 and as the youngest ever Foreign Service Officer, Raymond Robinson entered the Department of External Affairs after graduating from UBC in 1958. His career choice was inspired by a meeting in 1953 in the library of St. George's School with Captain B.O. Robinson's son, Basil, who rose to become Canada's top diplomat.

After serving in various overseas and Ottawa postings, in 1970, Ray was appointed head of External Affairs' section dealing with transboundary environmental issues, coordinating Canada's team which negotiated the 1972 Canada-US Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, the first of its kind in the world.

Appointed Environment Canada's first permanent Director of International Affairs, where he helped create the UN Environment Program, he was later promoted to head the Air Pollution Control Directorate where he negotiated the first federal-provincial air quality standards. Subsequently, as Assistant Deputy Minister in charge of the Environmental Protection Service, he initiated the decision to remove lead from gasoline, reformed regulation development to increase public input and led Canadian efforts to control acid rain. He was the first Canadian public servant ever to represent Canada officially before a US Congressional Committee in pressing the US to follow Canada’s example.

Appointed chairman of what is now called the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, he authored the Cabinet Directive which initially set out the environmental assessment process. He also was responsible for guiding the drafting and submission of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. Much of Canada’s approach has since been adopted by the European Union.

Ray was also Federal Administrator of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. Appointed an adjunct professor at Simon Fraser University, he left the federal public service in 1993.