(Reuters) - Calgary City Council has voted to continue with its 2026 Winter Olympic Games bid process, keeping alive the prospect of hosting the event.

The 15-member council voted 12-3 in favor of extending the process, and will now move to a Nov. 13 plebiscite that will ask the people of Calgary whether they support the bid.The outcome will not be final and council will have the final say regardless of the result.Potentially hosting the Olympics is expected to cost Calgary in excess of $5 billion. An estimated $3 billion of that would have to come from taxpayers, via city, provincial and federal funding.

BidCo, the group producing the hosting plan, unveiled a plan that would see events spread across Calgary, Canmore, Whistler and possibly Edmonton.

The International Olympic Committee session in October will invite candidates to bid formally and a host city will be selected in September, 2019.

Italy’s Olympic committee last month voted to submit a joint bid formed by Milan, Turin and the Alpine resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo to host the 2026 Games.

Three other cities -- Sapporo in Japan, Stockholm and Erzurum, Turkey -- are involved in the dialogue phase of the bidding process.

Vancouver was the last Canadian city to host the Games in 2010 at a cost of $6.4 billion, which included $1 billion for security.