Brigadier-General Ayotte enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces in 1992 first attending Royal Roads Military College Victoria, and then graduating from the Royal Military College of Canada Kingston, in 1996 with an undergraduate degree in Chemical and Materials Engineering. Upon completion of Military Engineer training in Chilliwack, he served in 1 CER, CFSME, 2 CER, and finally 4 ESR as the Commanding Officer in 2012.
Brigadier-General Ayotte's international deployments have been to Kosovo with Operation KINETIC in 1999 and Afghanistan under Operation ARCHER / ENDURING FREEDOM in 2005/06. His extra regimental appointments included service with 1 Cdn Div HQ as the CO DART / J35, Canadian Army HQ as DAS 2, and 4 Cdn Div HQ as the COS. Most recently, he completed command at Royal Military College of Canada as the Director of Cadets.
A graduate of the Australian Command and Staff Course in 2010, Brigadier-General Ayotte has also completed the National Security Programme at CFC in Toronto. He is currently serving as the Director of Strategic Communications in Baghdad under Operation INHERENT RESOLVE.