Calgary's Council have vowed to continue their bid but will hold another vote next week ©Getty Images

Calgary's City Council have voted in favour of pressing ahead with their possible bid for the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games but will hold another meeting next week amid lingering doubts over whether to proceed. 

They voted by a 10-4 majority to continue while receiving another report next week containing a formal request for additional funding.

This extra amount could total around $2 million (£1.2 million/$1.5 million/€1.3 million).

Bid officials have also been requested to ask Federal and Provincial Governments whether they would be willing to share equally in the cost of a formal Olympic bid.

Both these bodies are being careful to avoid committing either way at this stage. 

Calgary is among cities across five nations currently interested in bidding for the Games in a bidding process reformed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Sion in Switzerland, Sapporo in Japan, Stockholm in Sweden and, possibly, Salt Lake City, Denver or Reno in United States, are also considering mounting bids in a process not due to officially begin until October 2018.

Formal bid books must now be completed by late 2018, however, before being submitted to the IOC in January 2019.

This work is expected to take around a year to compile, meaning that a decision on whether to permanently press ahead must be made soon.

Concerns remain from certain members of the Council, however.

Druh Farrell is among councillors to highlight financial concerns surrounding the Calgary bid ©YouTube
Druh Farrell is among councillors to highlight financial concerns surrounding the Calgary bid ©YouTube

One, Druh Farrell, raised concerns about the financial risks as well as the danger of working with an organisation considered as "toxic" as the IOC. 

"You've highlighted the benefits," she was quoted as saying by CBC.

"In fact, there's a whole presentation on them. 

"I see no detail on risks.

"Are we going to be the only one wanting to date the IOC, at the end of the day, because everyone sees the relationship as toxic?"

Her colleague Peter Demong also expressed fears about the process.

"It scares the c*** out of me to think what's going to happen over the next six months to a year, with regards to what's going to happen, what changes they're going to say, what different road maps we're going to use."

Innsbruck has already crashed out of the 2026 race after failing a referendum last month.

A similar ballot is expected in most of the cantons involved in the potential Sion bid on June 10 next year.