Date: 201908
Local time of day: 0001-0600
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Flight conditions: VMC
Aircraft: Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Climb
Aircraft component: Powerplant Lubrication System
Component problem: Malfunctioning
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Captain; Pilot Flying
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine
Human factors: Troubleshooting; Distraction; Time Pressure
Second reporter function: First Officer; Pilot Not Flying
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification; Flight Crew Inflight Shutdown; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport
Contributing factors: Aircraft
Primary problem: Aircraft

Narrative: The first phases of the flight were all normal. The airplane had an inoperative APU; so we had to start the engine on ground power and later do a cross bleed start; despite that all operations were normal and we did not notice any abnormalities. Through takeoff and initial climb out all was normal. As we climbed through about 10;000 feet. I saw the EICAS engine oil display flash red and saw the temperature was very high. About 160 degrees Celsius and climbing fast. I asked my First Officer to check the QRH for a high oil temperature checklist. I notified ATC that we had an issue and decided to hold our altitude and reduced the left engine power to try to reduce the temperature while we found the appropriate checklist. At approximately 55 to 60 percent N1 the oil temperature continued to rise to 169 degrees. We followed the high oil temperature checklist and it led us to shut the left engine down. As the First Officer and I ran the shutdown checklists I [advised ATC] and asked for vectors to return to ZZZ airport.We planned to utilize the ILS for Runway XXL to give us every navigation advantage possible with the degraded aircraft state. We were only about 50 miles away from the airport when the event occurred and we turned around. I began to slow the airplane down to about 200 knots to give us more time to work the situation before getting to the airport. We needed more time to run the single engine descent and before landing checklist so we asked for delay vectors before the approach and flew a box pattern to finish our tasks. We finished the checklists and took a minute to stop and think if we missed anything and double check the aircraft configuration. We continued the approach with no issues.We cleared off the runway and stopped on an open area of the taxiway for the fire crews to check the engine for any issues that could be a safety issue if we parked at the terminal building. The fire department saw nothing that concerned them and we continued to taxi to the gate with no other issues.High oil temperature due to a suspected failed oil scavenge pump resulted in an engine shutdown and air return.


Second narrative: [Report narrative contained no additional information.]


Synopsis: CRJ-200 flight crew reported an inflight oil system anomaly which necessitated a return to the departure airport.