Brandon bidding for 2017 Canada Summer Games

The western Manitoba city of Brandon has made it official: it wants to host the Canada Summer Games in 2017.

The City of Brandon sent a letter of intent and a $12,000 bid deposit to the Canada Games Council on Wednesday, officials have announced.

Mayor Shari Decter Hirst said if Brandon does get to host the 2017 games, it would put the Wheat City on the map.

Hosting the national sporting competition could also help Brandon grab the attention of WestJet, which isthinking of starting a short-haul regional airline.

"I think [there is] 6,000 to 7,000 people that they expect between athletes, coaches, officials, media, tourism," Decter Hirst told CBC News.

"If I were an air service, I'd certainly want to get a piece of that action."

City officials say they should know after Friday, the bid submission deadline, if Brandon is the sole bidder for the 2017 games or not.

A national competition for young athletes, the Canada Games are held every two years, alternating between winter and summer games.

The last games were heldlast year in Halifax(winter) and in2009 in Summerside, P.E.I.(summer).

Upcoming games in 2013

The next summer games will take place in Sherbrooke, Que., in August 2013, while the next winter games will be hosted by Prince George and northern British Columbia in 2015.

Manitoba's second-largest city, Brandon previously hosted the Canada Winter Games in 1979 and the Canada Summer Games in 1997.

Earlier this year, the Canada Games Council opened a 15-month bidding process for Manitoba communities that want to host the 2017 summer games.

Decter Hirst said the next step is to make sure Brandon is prepared to hostsuch a major event.

"That's the reason why we've got a year, basically, to pull our bid together," she said.

"We're going to need to do some engineering analysis on some of our existing facilities, and we've got to meet with a lot of the stakeholder groups."

The winning host city will be unveiled in April 2013, according to the council.