Labrador Affairs is partnering with SmartICE to monitor and maintain the winter snowmobile route between Nain and Natuashish.

The information gathered by SmartICE will help communities and residents in Northern Labrador make more informed decisions before travelling on sea ice so they can avoid dangerous or hazardous areas.

The Department of Labrador Affairs will provide $104,650 to SmartICE through existing funding in the Labrador Transportation Grooming Subsidy program to monitor and maintain the winter trail system from Nain to Natuashish.

The company will monitor the ice along the trail and provide communities and Labrador Affairs with insights into the sea ice thickness and local ice conditions in real-time.

Climate change, resulting in less predictable and shorter ice seasons, is impacting northern communities and raising concerns about the risk of travel over sea ice.

There is a possibility of expanding the ice-monitoring technology in other areas of Labrador that depend on travel by snowmobile in the future.