For communities along the Slave River, ice is an important component of the traditional way of life. During the winter, a stable ice cover provides local residents with safe access to traditional hunting, trapping, and fishing areas along the river. In recent years, however, local communities have observed changes in ice cover characteristics (e.g. air pocket formation, double layer ice), that have increased the risks associated with travel on the ice. Research to date has focused in the impact of flow regulations, but very little is known about the Slave River ice cover characteristics and behaviour. Remote sensing and field surveys were used to gain an understanding of the ice cover progression along the river during the 2013 – 2014 and 2014 – 2015 winters. RADARSAT- 2 satellite imagery captured changes in the ice cover and identified different types of ice during the entire course of each winter season. The results show that flow regime and meteorological conditions are the main parameters influencing the ice regime along the Slave River.