Bid chairman David Peterson handed a copy of 233-page bid book to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, before heading to Mexico to officially launch the bid.

 

The budget includes C$1.4 billion (£785 million) for the event and C$1 billion (£561 million) for the Athletes' Village, Peterson said.

 

Peterson will present the bid today to Mario Vazquez Rana, President of the Pan American Sports Organisation (PASO).

 

A planned trip to Mexico in April was postponed because of the swine flu outbreak during which Vazquez Rana's grandson died.

 

Peterson said: “It’s [bid book] the most important tool, in many ways, when the delegates make their decision on who wins the Games.

 

“We think we are in a good position.

 

"We are working very hard [but] I take nothing for granted.” 

 

The bid promises more than 50 venues in Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe region - from Niagara Falls to Minden to Oshawa - including six new facilities to be built in Toronto, Markham and Hamilton.

 

Both Peterson and McGuinty said the Games will boost interest in sports and leave the province with dozens of state-of-the art sports facilities.

 

The province is eager for the 15,000 construction jobs expected to be created if the bid is approved, as well as the 250,000 tourists and bring 10,000 athletes it should draw to the province.

 

McGuinty said: “We’re not only investing in new physical infrastructure but we’re also investing in a stronger amateur sports culture.

 

“Just by creating a buzz leading up to the Games, by hosting the Games with the coverage that will emanate from the Games, that will penetrate into Ontario households and excite our kids.”

 

The last edition of the Pan Am Games was held in Rio de Janeiro in 2007, and the next will take place in Guadalajara, Mexico in October 2011.

 

The PASO represents the 42 nations across the Caribbean and the Americas.

 

The National Olympic Committees will decide the host for the 2015 Games in November.

 

The other bidding cities are Lima, Peru, and Bogota, Colombia. 

 

The agency represents the 42 nations across the Caribbean and the Americas.

 

The National Olympic Committees will decide the host for the 2015 Games in November.

 

The other bidding cities are Lima, Peru, and Bogota, Colombia.

 

Canada last held the Games in Winnipeg in 1999.