The Canadian Coast Guard says people in Labrador should be very careful on sea ice this winter.

Paul Veber, the coast guard's superintendent of ice operations, said the annual freeze-up has been happening later in recent years than in generations past.

Veber said that means the ice is thinner than people have been used to.

"Even though there may be more of an ice concentration as we head into the winter, you got to be very careful in terms of the strength of the ice because it may not be able to support the type of activity that we've been able to carry out in the past," he said.

Communities along the coast of Labrador depend on sea ice for transportation links during the winter.

A man died in Hopedale in late December when his snowmobile went through ice in the community's harbour.