He avidly participated in many sports including volleyball, soccer, cross country running, high-jumping and ball hockey (as goaltender) – earning high school letters while maintaining academic honors.

[3] Accepted by both McGill and Concordia Universities, he promptly moved to Montreal and took an apartment off-campus (with Quebec skater Olivier Jean) to be near the National Training Center in the Maurice Richard Arena.

During these years Jayner's academics focused on engineering and urban studies while, as a skater, he moved up the ranks, participating in several CanAm competitions.

As a result of contacts established at these cross-border invitational meets, Jayner played host to Ryan Bedford (of Michigan) and Jordan Malone (of Texas) in Montreal – showing them around town, introducing them to the local short track skating scene and advising them on dealing with the French language – during times when they sought diverse independence in their training programs and experience.

At the 2003 Canada Winter Games in Bathurst/Campbellton, Jayner represented his home province of New Brunswick, winning a silver medal in the men's short track 3000m.