TORONTO - A newly appointed board tasked with organizing the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto is on the hunt for a chief executive officer.

HostCo board chairman Roger Garland says a headhunting firm has already started to put together a list of prospective candidates.

The former hotel executive says the board's first priority is to get a CEO and management team in place as soon as possible.

He says it will be an "enormous" task to organize the games in facilities that are expected to span more than a dozen municipalities in southern Ontario, but one that will create a legacy for generations to come.

The board, which includes several members of the Canadian Olympic Committee, former Olympians and business executives, will hold its first meeting early in the new year.

Garland, who spent 25 years as an officer and director of the Four Seasons luxury hotel chain, will be joined by Canadian Olympic Committee president Michael Chambers and president-elect Marcel Aubut, who also served as president and CEO of the former Quebec Nordiques NHL team.