Toronto bids for 2015 Pan American Games

Toronto and the surrounding area known as the Greater Golden Horseshoe have officially launched a bid to host the Pan American Games in 2015.
Should the “Toronto 2015” bid be successful, it will result in an estimated $950 million investment in construction for upgraded sports venues and other facilities. The bid is being financially supported by all levels of government, federal, provincial and municipal. It is also supported by the Canadian Olympic Committee.
If the competition venues are scattered around the region, which stretches 33,500 square kilometres from Niagara Falls in the west end of Lake Ontario north to Oshawa along the lake east of Toronto, then there would likely need to be more money invested in improving transportation links. The area has over eight million people, representing more than 25% of Canada’s population.
A team headed by Yagoda Pike was to head to the Pan American Sports Organization to present the bid in Acapulco, Mexico during the week of October 6.
Toronto will be competing against Caracas, Venezuela, which has also announced it will make a bid. Other cities who are expected to launch bids are Bogota, Colombia and Lima, Peru. The selection is expected to be made by September 2009.
Forty-two countries competed in the last Pan American Games, which were held in Rio de Janeiro in 2007. The first Pan American Games are held every four years in the year preceding the Olympic Games. They were held for the first time in 1951.