Although a formal federal leaders’ debate on women’s issues is officially off the table, Canadians who want to hear how the party leaders plan to tackle issues around gender equality will get their chance next month.

Up For Debate, the alliance of women’s groups that initially proposed the debate, announced Tuesday it had secured commitments from all four opposition leaders for a series of one-on-one interviews on how they would address the challenges faced by Canadian women.

The group said Conservative Leader Stephen Harper still has not agreed to take part.

“It may not be the debate we first imagined, but an alternative can get all party leaders speaking on the record to issues that matter to women. And it will still be the first time that happens in 30 years,” said Melanie Gallant, spokeswoman for Up For Debate.

The interviews will be released on Sept. 21 — the date for which the formal debate had been scheduled — at a live event in Toronto’s Isabel Bader Theatre.

There will also be comment and analysis of the leaders interviews but it’s not clear at this time what form that will take.

Up For Debate announced Monday that the formal leaders’ debate was being called off — just hours after the Toronto Star published a story confirming that NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair would not attend the debate despite saying in November that he was on board.

Harper had never agreed to attend in the first place. With both the prime minister and leader of the Opposition not attending, Gallant said, organizers didn’t have the numbers for a traditional debate.