Although Shaver had made some appearances on US TV in the late 70s, she first received notice as Beau Bridges' wife in "United States", the short-lived 1980 NBC series by Larry Gelbart that closely examined a marriage. In 1981, she headlined "Jessica Novak" (NBC), about an on-camera reporter, and returned to the genre as news anchor Kelby Robinson in "WIOU" (CBS, 1990). She also made several recurring appearances during the 1982 season of "Hill Street Blues" (NBC) and has often starred in TV-movies of popular entertainment value, including the USA Network thriller "Survive the Night" (1993) and as Monique Dressier in several of the "Janek" series of CBS TV-movies. Shaver returned to series TV as psychiatrist Dr. Rachel Corrigan who becomes impregnated by a demon and gives birth to evil in the Showtime series "Poltergeist" (1996- ).
Shaver began her career as a theater actress in her native Canada, but since she began the US phase of her career, she has made infrequent stage appearances. Her work in "Ghost on Fire" at the La Jolla Playhouse was much applauded and she made her Broadway debut in Neil Simon's "Jake's Women", opposite Alan Alda. As Maggie, Jake's humorless second wife, Shaver earned a Theatre World Award.