Abstract Manager

Canada has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 30% below 2005 levels by 2030, with the transportation sector—responsible for 22% of national emissions—playing a critical role in achieving this target. Residential location significantly shapes travel behavior, vehicle ownership, and vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT), all of which directly influence transport-related GHG emissions. Despite extensive research on the determinants of residential choice—including household characteristics, dwelling attributes, built environment factors, socio-economic context, and transportation-related attributes—limited attention has been given to whether individuals explicitly consider transport-related GHG emissions when choosing where to live.

The objective of this research is to examine the extent to which individuals recognize the connection between where they live and the emissions they produce. To address this objective, a comprehensive survey was conducted in March 2025, including 1,025 respondents across downtown, urban, suburban, and peri-urban neighborhoods in the Greater Montreal Area. The survey collected a wide range of data, including socio-demographics, residential location preferences, mobility patterns, perceptions of transport costs, and attitudes toward climate change. Ordered logit models and descriptive analyses were employed to assess how knowledge, beliefs, and neighborhood context influence GHG-related residential considerations.

Findings indicate that while most respondents associate denser, transit-accessible neighborhoods with lower transport costs, shorter commutes, and reduced car dependence, relatively few explicitly connect residential choice with transport-related emissions. Educational levels strongly predict technical and spatial knowledge about emissions and urban form, whereas belief in the ongoing reality of climate change is the key factor translating this knowledge into GHG-based residential considerations. Car dependency varies systematically by neighborhood type, with downtown and urban core residents reporting far lower reliance on automobiles than suburban and peri-urban households. Even among individuals motivated to reduce emissions, climate considerations rank below economic and housing-related factors, highlighting a clear gap between knowledge, belief, and behavioral translation in residential decision-making. These findings suggest that decarbonization strategies relying primarily on voluntary individual awareness may be insufficient without complementary structural land-use and transportation policy interventions. They also indicate that improving the visibility and framing of transport-related information—such as estimated GHG emissions and long-term mobility costs—may support residential location choices associated with lower transport-related GHG emissions.