Before G7 world leaders met in Kananaskis, Alberta for their 2025 summit, something inspiring was happening nearby in Calgary: social and ecological justice activists and people of faith and conscience from across Canada gathered for the G7 Jubilee People’s Forum. The four-day event was a powerful confluence of interfaith richness, global solidarity, and fierce determination to turn unjust debt into radical hope.
As part of the Jubilee 2025: Turn Debt into Hope Campaign, KAIROS Canada, Citizens for Public Justice, Development and Peace, the Office of Religious Congregations for Integral Ecology, and the Canadian Council of Churches organized a central event with learning and organizing to help get us towards the goal of the Turn Debt Into Hope campaign: gathering 100,000 signatures.
By mid‑Forum we celebrated gathering over 36,400 Canadian signatures toward our petition—and contributing to more than 120,000 signatures globally.
The Forum concluded with a large rally in front of Calgary City Hall, where CPJ’s Maryo Wahba spoke on behalf of Jubilee Canada, followed by street theatre featuring a giant “debt” piñata—chocolate coins spilling out as celebratory “debt relief.”
Together, we smashed debt—literally and symbolically—and reignited momentum. Now we carry this energy into meetings with decision-makers in Ottawa, as we continue to mobilize a united, ecumenical call for debt justice and ecological equity.
Join this flourishing call for global solidarity by signing the Jubilee petition and add your voice to the growing demands for debt cancellation and climate justice.
Click through the gallery below to view key moments from the forum.
CPJ at the G7 Jubilee People’s Forum Rally in downtown Calgary
While the G7 Leader’s Summit was taking place in nearby Kananaskis, participants in the G7 Jubilee People’s Forum joined numerous groups in downtown Calgary for a rally. We called on G7 leaders to act for global debt justice, and to heed calls from the Global South. Click below to see CPJ’s Climate Justice Policy Analyst, Maryo Wahba, address the rally.
