In 1985, he enlisted as a private in the Army Reserve, later joining the Regular Force after being commissioned as an officer. In 2015, he became the first public affairs officer to be promoted to brigadier-general in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Notably, Mr. Thériault served as the director of Army public affairs, advisor to the Strategic Joint Staff, director of the Defence Public Affairs Learning Centre and director general of Public Affairs.
He was deployed as part of various expeditionary operations, notably to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; for Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (Persian Gulf); twice to Afghanistan; and to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake.
Mr. Thériault holds both a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts degree from Université Laval, as well as a Master of Defence Studies from the Royal Military College.