About Us

We focus on giving you the best possible return on investment, with many services and resources to help you become Agile.

Collaboration that reaps rewards takes more than having a group of people in the same office. Learning doesn't gain anything unless you can apply it and get results. We show you how to implement best practices in the context of your own organization with your unique goals and constraints in mind.

Approach

While Agile is the primary focus of our services, we have many years of experience running all sizes of software projects from the very small to the very large. We understand what it takes for teams to collaborate to create to best possible solution. We also have very deep understanding of the full software development lifecycle and of how to implement best practices.

While we are passionate about the work we do, we are also pragmatic about ensuring that the services that we deliver fit with your organization and your goals. The relationship that we build with you is of utmost importance.

Mark Levison

Mark Levison is the Certified Scrum Trainer and Agile Coach behind Agile Pain Relief Consulting. With over 30 years of experience in the IT industry, he has been learning and teaching Agile since 2001. Introducing Scrum, Lean, and Agile methodology to a large variety of organizations —government departments, banks, insurance, healthcare, education, software, logistics and non-profits, to name only a few— Mark has brought Scrum to thousands of professionals and helped launch the practice throughout Canada.

Participants benefit from Mark’s voracious study and writing on the neuroscience of learning. A respected international speaker at Agile Alliance conferences and Scrum Gatherings, Mark is also a published author on the subject, including The Guide to Effective Agile Retrospectives, Five Steps Towards Creating High-Performance Teams, blog “Notes from a Tool User”, “Beyond Scrum”, various guides and handbooks, and multiple articles for InfoQ and the Scrum Alliance.

Heather Uhl

Heather Uhl joined Agile Pain Relief Consulting in 2003 as Operations Manager, and supports Mark with his writing, teaching, and general business, as well as provides resource information for public Scrum enquiries and Agile Pain Relief’s thousands of alumni.

Decades of experience working with artists and non-traditional businesses underpins Heather’s interest in Agile methodology and her passion for empowering others to succeed. In addition to her work with Mark, she is the owner of More Time in a Day and longtime Operations Manager of Canadian Music Hall of Fame band Trooper.

We've helped 8000+ people find success using Scrum

Proud to be the trusted training provider for many of the largest financial, insurance, software, and education organizations, as well as all levels of Canadian government.

Loved this course! Mark is very thorough and attentive as a teacher. He leveraged Mural in such interactive ways, which allowed him to understand the students well and shape the class accordingly. He is like the Jedi master of scrum and insanely advanced methods of leaderless collaboration and accomplishment. He's also the king of super nerdy jokes, which made the class fun and brought out the super nerd in everyone.
Lia GVirtual
Always entertaining and I feel like I learned a ton!
Michael ROttawa
Mark is very knowledgeable and his experience with Agile and Scrum was awesome as he was able to provide lots of tips and examples.
Sophie CVirtual
Course was great. Mark was terrific! Kept us involved and thinking.
Anne DPrivate Client
Mark shared valuable information and advice about Scrum theory. I am now clear on many Agile views on different aspects, especially, Roadmap.
Syed AToronto
Awesome work on walking us through the process.
Steven CVancouver
Mark was recommended to me from a colleague and I honestly was delighted of how much I learned from the course. I have been as a project manager for a number of years, and I really felt that I was able to understand how to apply this to my current work and also even how to work within my working style.
Joyce KVirtual
Mark is a great instructor, very clear and informative. Great course. High recommendable.
Simon BVancouver
Great instructor, light atmosphere, very knowledgeable and engaging. Thank You!
Edwine JVirtual
Mark is fun and engaging and has a great way of importing information in a memorable way.
Brittany LOttawa
Instructor is very knowledgeable and delivers the course extremely well. Makes it interesting!
Brian APrivate Client
The instructor was very adaptive and knowledgeable. I respect how the instructor worked and would take another course with him in the future.
Johnny KEdmonton
This instructor was absolutely brilliant. He was very clear and knowlegable in all the areas. He was also very honest in his opinions.
Jonathan EOttawa
Mark was great. Excellent sense of humor, great ability to adapt, wealth of business and sugject matter knowledge.
Jesse BPrivate Client
Remarkable! Knowledgeable! Relatable! Mark's style was a style that I can relate to. I was engaged. Enjoyed the variety of explanations, sharing screens, working with my team mates. The overall structure and delivery of the training material exceeded my expectations.
Brenda DVirtual
Instructor was very knowledgeable and expressed his thoughts honestly and concisely. Course was very informative.
Lorne APrivate Client
It was a great experience coming to Agile Scrum just a few months ago allowed this to solidify a lot of things I've been practicing. I will likely immediately reap the rewards.
Curtis BOttawa
Very good and useful information. I like the format (no boring Powerpoint) and doing the meeting as a sprint was great.
Fred BPrivate Client
I greatly enjoyed Mark's class. He is obviously a subject matter expert and has great insights.
Mandana BVirtual
Great to get this training from the subject matter expert.
Nisha AToronto
Excellent communicator, good at focusing on the important topics.
Mick BPrivate Client
Training was excellent with good interaction. Knowledge sharing is good. Course was practically and informative. Mark Levison is enthusiastic with English subtle sense of humour and really aware of what he is explaining. The course helped to build confidence, valuable experiences and learning.
Yana KVirtual
Mark was awesome. Engaging and interactive. Course material is detailed but not overwhelming.
Adam DToronto
The course was well laid out, a good mix of discussions, examples, and practice.
Chris FToronto
Very Experienced, Shared Experiences, Class Participation was done very well.
Gary FPrivate Client
Calm, knowledgeable, and open to questions. Great.
Brandon GVirtual
Fantastic 2 days. Loved the incorporation of practical exercies. Lots of feedback and helps you understand how people think.
Tony KVancouver
Overall, this was a well curated and delivered course. The instructor is SME on the subject of Scrum with lots of hands-on experiences. This helps to drive the points home to the trainees. Bravo Mark for the excellent job done.
Adefemi DVirtual
Mark's briiliant, I would like an assessment on our company and some hints.
Stefano GToronto
Love it. I'm a repeat offender and have recommended you multiple times.
Alex GMontreal
AMAZING! Funny, interesting, engaging course!
Bassem HMontreal
Fun and focused. Mark knows Scrum inside and out.
Ryan JEdmonton
Very well done course. Very experienced, knowledgeable instructor, well structured course, clear explanation, keeps nice spirit during the course, encourages collaboration.
Dina DMontreal
Excellent course, excellent communication. Loved the fact that the instructon was showing us how SCRUM should respond to different situtions.
Pascal GPrivate Client
Mark, you master it! Many thanks for making this content easy to understand.
Bertrand LVirtual
Great facilitator. Challenged my thinking. Very absorbing discussion. Very engaging considering it can be a very dry topic, as evidenced by the webinars I've listened to.
Aimee LToronto
Course: great content! Instructor: excellent and very knowledgeable on the subject.
Nadeem FEdmonton
Awesome!! Very captivating, approachable and well spoken. Provoked conversation and posed questions in a manner that made you think
Katherine HKitchener-Waterloo
I appreciate the opportunity to attend the workshop. I enjoyed the time spent with my fellow co-workers to learn together. Mark is passionate about Scrum and willing to dig into our problem and seek for the remedies to resolve.
Heather JVancouver
Excellent reinforcements of concepts and techniques on Agile-related challenges. Mark delivered the course at an excellent pace. I thoroughly enjoyed the session as he kept the team engaged wih useful examples and in-depth topic knowledge. Great reinforcement of Agile concepts.
Seeha GPrivate Client
Good energy. Good examples. Kept the class on track.
Wilson CEdmonton
Great class. Great instructor! I will recommend!
Kim KMontreal
Mark was great! He kept the room energized and very engaged. His passion and pexereince were very evident. Class materials were very helpful! Great focus on how to drive results.
Aaron MPrivate Client
Amazing! Friendly, funny, smart, open-minded individual. Great job, Mark!
S M Tadmir CToronto
Whether you have 0 days or 10 years of product owner experience you're guaranted to learn a lot from this course.
Luke NOttawa
Good course and Mark is an awesome facilitator. Loved the way Mark conducted the training.
Gajan PKitchener-Waterloo
The course was well structured. The trainer was very knowledgeable and very engaging. I thoroughly enjoyed this course.
Bruno MOttawa
Mark was engaging, knowledgeable, well-read and provided great examples.
Warren CVancouver
Mark maintained an ongoing environment of engagement. One of the best classroom based courses I have participated in.
Grant BPrivate Client
Brilliant instructor for a heavy and varied course. Answers questions almost flawlessly and really understands what people need in order to learn effectively.
Analee CPrivate Client

Get Certified

Explore what Scrum is and how to make it work for you in our Scrum Certification training. Hands-on learning will guide you to improve teamwork, deliver quick feedback, and achieve better products and results.

About this course

Focuses on the role of the team and the ScrumMaster. Get the skills and practical experience necessary to improve teamwork, take the exam, and advance your career with a certification that is in high demand today. Often the best fit for anyone new to Scrum.

Learning and Benefits

Relatable Scenarios

Learn on-the-job applications of key Scrum concepts, skills, principles, along with practical solutions that you can apply the next day for difficult, real-life situations.

Respected Certification

Everything you need to earn your Scrum Alliance® ScrumMaster certification, including exam fee and membership, and so much more.

Practical Exercises

With focus on the challenges that real teams face, and tools to dig deeper. You don’t need more boring Scrum theory. You need something you can sink your teeth into to see immediate results.

Jargon-Free Learning

This workshop is not just for software development or people with a computer science degree. We’ve helped many non-software teams with Scrum.

Career Advancement

Use Scrum knowledge to standout at work, get paid more, and impress your customer, all without burning out.

GenAI for Systems Thinking

Learn the basics of using Generative AI as a tool to support Systems Thinking in your ScrumMaster role. Explore how to leverage GenAI to help uncover patterns, and think more deeply about the systems your team operates in.

Ongoing Support

Your learning doesn’t stop when the workshop ends. You get lifetime access to all course materials, plus a followup email series designed to reinforce your learning objectives and help you apply what you’ve learned on the job.