In 1948, he won first prize at the Geneva International Music Festival and emigrated to Canada at the end of the year to pursue a career in a wider sphere.

Beginning as a singer with the Canadian Opera Company, he subsequently directed and became director of touring, before switching to radio and television, where he became well known as an actor and presenter in Canada.

He is noted for his portrayal of Amish patriarch Eli Lapp in Peter Weir's major-market film Witness and Jan in D2: The Mighty Ducks.

[citation needed] On 22 September 1950, Rubeš married actress Susan Douglas.

On 29 June 2009, Rubeš died following a stroke at Toronto General Hospital.