It was also agreed to set up an Oversight Committee to ensure better engagement between the City Council and a potential Calgary 2026 Bid Committee.

The new Oversight Committee will include the Mayor Naheed Nenshi and four Councilors to be named later.

The window for holding a plebiscite, expected to cost CAD$2 million (£1.2 million/$1.5 million/€1.3 million), will be between October and February 2019. 

There were no decisions made on who will fund the public vote.

The plebiscite is a condition set by Alberta province for continued funding.

The plebiscite, which will be a non-binding vote, will only move forward, however, should the Council agree to continue pursuing the Olympic bid.

They are due to hold another vote in June after studying more details about the potential financial implications of hosting the Winter Olympics for the first time since 1988. 

The only Councillor to oppose the plan to hold a plebiscite was Druh Farrell, who has long opposed any plans to bid for the Winter Olympics. 

Last week, the Council had voted nine to six to continue exploring the possibility of Calgary hosting another Winter Olympics in 2026.

"My thought is that if council endorses a plebiscite, we can start doing some of the backroom work on it to ensure that, you know, the processes and procedures are in place," Mayor Naheed Nenshi said earlier today before the start of the meeting. 

Sion in Switzerland is already due to hold a referendum in June on whether to bid or not.

Graz in Austria, Sapporo in Japan and Stockholm in Sweden are among the other contenders for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Erzurum in Turkey have announced plans to bid.

There may also be a joint Italian bid from Milan, Turin and Cortina d'Ampezzo

A host city is due to be chosen by the International Olympic Committee in 2019.