[2] Originally from Nova Scotia, he currently lives in Toronto, Ontario.
[3] He has also appeared on stage in productions of We Will Rock You, Of Mice and Men, The Lion King, Bruce Norris' Clybourne Park,[4] Matthew Lopez's The Whipping Man[2] and Lynn Nottage's Ruined,[5] for which he garnered a Dora nomination in 2011 for Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role – Play.
On television he has had guest roles in Undergrads, The West Wing, The Eleventh Hour, 'Til Death Do Us Part, The Border, The Bridge, InSecurity, Warehouse 13, Covert Affairs, Suits, Lost Girl, Nikita, and Degrassi: Next Class.
With the group Spunkadelic, he cowrote the Juno Award-nominated 1990 single "Take Me Like I Am".
Jarvis also provided the singing voice for Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong Country and for Ian Jones-Quartey's character Radicles in his Cartoon Network series, OK K.O.!