Let the planning begin.

City staff have been directed to start the work to form a host society tasked with delivering the 2020 Arctic Winter Games.

Mayor Dan Curtis is now authorized to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Yukon government to host the Games.

Council was unanimous Tuesday evening in voting to go ahead with the agreement and the forming of a host society.

The Games bring athletes from across the circumpolar North together for competition every two years.

2020 would mark Whitehorse’s seventh time hosting the Games, with 2012 marking the most recent time the city took on the event.

Playing host in 2020 would push the city’s plans ahead by two years. The capital had been on the roster to host the Games again in 2022, with Iqaluit originally scheduled to stage the event in 2020.

Iqaluit officials announced last year that the city was withdrawing from hosting, as it would be unable to put on any more than nine of the 21 sports that take place over the week-long competition.

Officials in other potential locales also said they couldn’t host the 2020 Games due to a number of varying reasons.

That left the Yukon.

The territory brought the possibility forward to the city, with council agreeing last June to enter negotiations with the AWG International Committee to host the games.

As interim city manager Linda Rapp told council in an earlier report, the MOU specifies that the city would not be left on the hook for any cost overruns.

“With the signing of the memorandum of (understanding), the city has assurance that it would not be responsible to fund any deficit at the conclusion of the Games,” she said.

“The city and the Yukon government would work together to establish the host society and the budget for the delivery of the AWG 2020.”

In addition to a possible $200,000 the city would put toward the sporting spectacle, a major part of the city’s contribution would be through the in-kind contribution for the use of city facilities for the competitions and potentially other logistics of the Games.

Further negotiations on the 2020 Games with the AWG’s international committee is expected to happen at committee meetings scheduled for next month in Calgary.

It’s also anticipated the host society will be established through the summer, with society representatives likely attending mission meetings for participating contingents in September.

Recruitment of a general manager for the Games could begin in the fall.

Next year’s Games are set for March 18-24 in the South Slave region of the Northwest Territories.