Crj-700 fist officer reported confusion on altitude assignment on arrival to cyyc; citing difference...

Narrative:

On arrival to runway 35L transition we were told by edmonton center to descend and maintain 12;000 feet. Prior to receiving this altitude clearance we were given no other instructions on altitude such as 'descend via the arrival;' 'cross ZZZ at 13;200 feet and then maintain 12;000 feet or even 'comply with the published altitudes on the IGVEP3 arrival.' at approximately the time we were crossing tulos on the arrival we were told to stop our descent at 13;000 feet (even though we had previously been cleared to 12;000 feet). We were then informed that we needed to comply with the altitudes on the arrival even though we were given no such clearance and had been previously cleared by edmonton center to descend and maintain 12;000 feet.the root cause of this event is a difference in terminology between the us air traffic control and the canadian controllers. After we were cleared to descend to 12;000 feet we were under the impression that we should descend and maintain 12;000 feet.if there is a difference in procedure between the 'descend via' clearances in the united states and canada; all pilots operating between the two countries should be made keenly aware of the differences before operating in canadian airspace; perhaps by way of a notation on the dispatch release or in the '10-7' airport familiarization chart.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ-700 Fist Officer reported confusion on altitude assignment on arrival to CYYC; citing differences in U.S. and Canadian ATC terminology with respect to 'descend via' clearances.

Narrative: On arrival to runway 35L transition we were told by Edmonton Center to descend and maintain 12;000 feet. Prior to receiving this altitude clearance we were given no other instructions on altitude such as 'descend via the arrival;' 'cross ZZZ at 13;200 feet and then maintain 12;000 feet or even 'comply with the published altitudes on the IGVEP3 arrival.' At approximately the time we were crossing TULOS on the arrival we were told to stop our descent at 13;000 feet (even though we had previously been cleared to 12;000 feet). We were then informed that we needed to comply with the altitudes on the arrival even though we were given no such clearance and had been previously cleared by Edmonton Center to descend and maintain 12;000 feet.The root cause of this event is a difference in terminology between the U.S. Air Traffic Control and the Canadian controllers. After we were cleared to descend to 12;000 feet we were under the impression that we should descend and maintain 12;000 feet.If there is a difference in procedure between the 'descend via' clearances in the United States and Canada; all pilots operating between the two countries should be made keenly aware of the differences before operating in Canadian airspace; perhaps by way of a notation on the dispatch release or in the '10-7' airport familiarization chart.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1237417
Time
Date	201502
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	CZEG.ARTCC
State Reference	AB
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Crj-700 fist officer reported confusion on altitude assignment on arrival to cyyc; citing differences in us and canadian ATC terminology with respect to 'descend via' clearances.