During a City Council meeting today, 25 voted against while 18 were in favour.

However, the decision does not officially rule out a bid from Toronto as the issue will now go in front of the Economic Development Committee for further review.

But the vote suggests there is little appetite for the city to stage the Games within the Council, with political support a key part of a bid for any major sports event.

Of the six councillors present who also sit on the EDC, two were absent, two voted yes and two voted no.

A majority at the EDC, who are next due to meet on April 7, will be required for it to proceed.

Toronto Mayor John Tory was among those to vote against fast-tracking the discussions on a possible bid.

If the motion had been successful, the matter would not have needed to be reviewed by the EDC.

The item was on the agenda at the meeting after Councillor James Pasternak submitted a motion to consider whether the Canadian city should enter the race for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, stripped from Durban by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) earlier this month.

Under the proposal, which was seconded by Councillor Paula Fletcher, the Toronto bid would seek to base their attempt purely around pre-existing facilities used when hosting the 2015 Pan American Games.

It comes after Mayor Tory advocated "great caution" regarding a possible bid, although he did not express his support nor opposition to the proposal.

Tory, Mayor when the city successfully hosted the 2015 Pan American Games, warned it was "a time-consuming, complex undertaking requiring years of preparation and unknown expense".

He also sat on the fence before ultimately opposing a possible Toronto bid for the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A host of cities in Australia and England have already expressed interest in replacing Durban for 2022. 

This includes London, Birmingham, Liverpool and 2002 hosts Manchester in England.

Melbourne, host of the 2006 Commonwealth Games, has joined Perth, Sydney and Adelaide in considering bidding for what would be a second successive Australian event after next year's edition in Gold Coast.

Edmonton, the initial challenger to Durban in the 2022 race, is the only other Canadian city to have so far been linked with a possible bid.

The city had pulled out in February 2015, seven months before the vote, due to the falling oil prices which had affected its economy.

Toronto has never staged the Commonwealth Games, with the last edition of the event to be held in Canada coming in Victoria in 1994.