Narrative:

In cruise at 33000 ft. As we were preparing for an approach briefing we received a 'left wshld heat' caution message. I asked the first officer to keep flying the airplane and to take the radios while I ran the QRH. While running the QRH for left windshield heat caution we noticed a discolored line running vertically up the middle or the left windshield from the bottom to just past the mid height of the windshield. I looked closer and could see it was a small crack starting. I switched procedures and ran the QRH for non EICAS 'window/windshield (arcing; delaminated; shatter; or crack)' per procedure I turned off left windshield heat; switched cabin pressure controller to manual; and began to climb the cabin pressure to lower delta P. As soon as the cabin began to climb the windshield shattered with a loud bang.I advised the first officer we needed to descend as a precaution and he coordinated with ATC to start down. While descending I slowed the rate of cabin climb and noted we still had control and that pressurization still did not appear to be an issue. Passing through 27000 ft. We received a 'cabin alt' caution as the cabin climbed above 8;000 ft.; I noted delta P still above 6.2. I stopped climbing the cabin at 9000 ft. Cabin altitude to avoid inadvertently deploying the passenger oxygen masks and asked the first officer to expedite our descent to lower delta P; cabin pressure held at 9000 ft. We continued our descent to 10;000 ft. As a precaution; I notified dispatch of the situation; they requested we return to ZZZ. We coordinated with ATC and returned. The flight attendants were advised of the situation [and of] returning. I made an announcement to the passengers advising we had experienced a minor mechanical issue; the aircraft was still safe but as a precaution we were going to return. The flight was successful without further incident; we swapped ships in ZZZ and completed the turn.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ-900 Captain reported their windshield shattered which resulted in returning to their point of departure.

Narrative: In cruise at 33000 ft. as we were preparing for an approach briefing we received a 'L WSHLD HEAT' caution message. I asked the First Officer to keep flying the airplane and to take the radios while I ran the QRH. While running the QRH for L Windshield heat Caution we noticed a discolored line running vertically up the middle or the left windshield from the bottom to just past the mid height of the windshield. I looked closer and could see it was a small crack starting. I switched procedures and ran the QRH for non EICAS 'Window/Windshield (Arcing; Delaminated; Shatter; or Crack)' Per procedure I turned off left windshield heat; switched cabin pressure controller to manual; and began to climb the cabin pressure to lower delta P. As soon as the cabin began to climb the windshield shattered with a loud bang.I advised the First Officer we needed to descend as a precaution and he coordinated with ATC to start down. While descending I slowed the rate of cabin climb and noted we still had control and that pressurization still did not appear to be an issue. Passing through 27000 ft. we received a 'Cabin Alt' caution as the cabin climbed above 8;000 ft.; I noted delta P still above 6.2. I stopped climbing the cabin at 9000 ft. cabin altitude to avoid inadvertently deploying the passenger oxygen masks and asked the First Officer to expedite our descent to lower delta P; cabin pressure held at 9000 ft. We continued our descent to 10;000 ft. as a precaution; I notified Dispatch of the situation; they requested we return to ZZZ. We coordinated with ATC and returned. The Flight Attendants were advised of the situation [and of] returning. I made an announcement to the passengers advising we had experienced a minor mechanical issue; the aircraft was still safe but as a precaution we were going to return. The flight was successful without further incident; we swapped ships in ZZZ and completed the turn.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.