Oversight and governance of the SNOLAB facility and the operational management is through the SNOLAB Institute Board of Directors, whose member institutions are Carleton University, Laurentian University, Queen’s University, University of Alberta and the Université de Montréal. Faculty at these institutes are fully active participants in the research program at the SNOLAB facility.
The SNOLAB Institute acts on behalf of these members and other stakeholders. It provides direction in all affairs of the organization to ensure SNOLAB has the means, quality, depth, and continuity of management required to realize its major scientific and operational objectives. As one component of SNOLAB’s accountability to its stakeholders, the Board of Directors also undertakes audit of the performance of SNOLAB and its Directorate, ensuring financial, health and safety, quality management, technical, and scientific performance are exemplary.
The construction of the surface facilities and underground laboratory of SNOLAB were funded by the International Joint venture program of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) , the Ontario Innovation trust, The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund corporation, and FEDNOR. Operating costs have been supported by The Ontario Research Fund’s Research Excellence Program, by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), by CFI and by the member institutions. The city of Sudbury provided a 5-year grant for public education for the new developments at SNOLAB. Current funding for SNOLAB has been provided by CFI’s Major Science Initiatives Fund.
The SNOLAB Institute is operated under a trust agreement between these institutions and includes external and international membership from both academic and industrial sectors. Vale has a seat on the Board of Management as the host organization for SNOLAB, and as our industrial partner, with the chair of the Scientific Executive Committee also being a voting member. The SNOLAB Institute is formally an unincorporated Institute of Queen’s University, providing overarching accountability, with each University partner acting as Trustee for SNOLAB assets.