Organizers for this summer’s Pan Am Games are heading to Mexico – to receive the flame that’ll be carried across Canada – in the days leading up to the international competition.

The chair of the organizing committee says the flame will be lit Monday at the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico, before it comes here.

David Peterson says the flame will arrive in Toronto May 30th, when it will begin its 41-day journey – across more than 130 communities.

Retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield will be the first of more than 3,000 people  to carry the torch.

The relay is scheduled to end on July 10th with the lighting of the cauldron at the Games’ opening ceremony.

The Pan Am Games run until July 26th, with the Parapan Am Games to follow from August 7th to 15th.