By The Canadian Press

TORONTO - Toronto will host the 2015 Pan Am Games after beating out two rival South American cities.

The decision came down Friday in Guadalajara, Mexico, where a team including Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Toronto Mayor David Miller made their last pitch to host the games.

"Our commitment, our pledge, our undertaking, our promise is to provide you with the best Pan Am Games ever," McGuinty told delegates assembled for the announcement.

"It's an exciting time for so many of us here."

Organizers have said a win would bring new jobs, facilities and a little civic pride to Ontario's capital.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper declined an invitation to travel to Mexico for the decision, but Federal Minister of State for Sport Gary Lunn is one of the delegates.

Toronto won on the first ballot, beating out bids from Lima, Peru, and Bogota, Colombia.

The Pan American Sport Organization, which represents the 42 countries across the Caribbean and the Americas and whose National Olympic Committees and determined the host for the 2015 Games, began a three-day meeting Wednesday.

The host city was chosen in a secret-ballot vote.

Each city had been hosting social events, attending meetings and rehearsing their presentations for Friday - their last sales-pitch before the vote.

The Colombian delegation had even been handing out coffee, with the help of a man who looked a lot like the fictional character Juan Valdez.

Not the be outdone, Canada brought two Mounties along.

Some have questioned the investment in the two-week Games, which includes $1.4 billion for the sporting event itself and $1 billion for an athletes' village - expected to be turned into a mixed-income neighbourhood serviced by transit.

The federal and provincial governments are each on the hook for 35 per cent of the $1.4 billion, or some $500 million each. Municipalities and private investors will pay the remaining $428.5 million.

But opposition to the Games has been muted, especially when compared to a campaign run by Bread Not Circuses against the 1996 Olympic bid.

The last edition of the Games was held in Rio de Janeiro in July 2007 and the next is scheduled to take place in Guadalajara, Mexico, in October 2011.