Some Montrealers lack easy access to quality grocery stores

Fresh vegetables are displayed for sale at a grocery store in Aylmer, Quebec, on Thursday, May 26, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

A study by Concordia University found that 20 per cent of Montrealers do not have access to a quality grocery store within a 10-minute walk of their home.

Sepideh Khorramisarvestani, a PhD student in Concordia’s Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, focused her research on access to local services and the concept of neighbourhood planning.

In academic journals, neighbourhood planning is defined as “an urban planning strategy aimed at designing neighbourhoods and cities where essential services, workplaces, amenities and residential areas are located close enough to one another to be easily accessible by non-motorized means, typically walking or cycling.”

The PhD student decided to explore this concept by focusing on access to grocery stores and healthy food in Montreal.

“My study is essentially based on a daily analysis of access to businesses,” said Khorramisarvestani.

To carry out her research, she used three different scenarios: walking, cycling, and a combination of these active modes with public transit.

The goal was to examine how different modes of transport affect access to quality groceries and healthy foods.

She also wanted to understand how public transit can help achieve the goals of neighbourhood planning, reduce CO₂ emissions and make cities more sustainable.

“The starting point for this study was to make cities more sustainable through the principles and objectives of neighbourhood planning, and to apply these ideas to North American cities,” Khorramisarvestani explained.

She noted that applying neighbourhood planning to large North American cities is more complex because each city has its own unique character.

“For example, making services easily accessible by bike is more complicated in North American cities, such as in Canada and the United States, than in some European countries,” she said.

When calculating travel times, the research team considered realistic factors such as walking to transit stops, waiting times and transfers.

According to an article published by Concordia University, researchers considered all healthy food stores within a 10-minute walk or bike ride from an adult’s home or workplace as locally accessible, assuming the individual is physically able and healthy. For longer trips, they used a 30-minute window combining active travel and public transit.

“We used the centroids of every city block in Montreal to simulate access to more than 900 grocery stores and determine users’ travel times and distances,” the PhD student said. “From there, we were able to calculate the number of stores available near each centroid.”

This process allowed Khorramisarvestani’s team to determine whether access to grocery stores was adequate and which mode of transport was most advantageous and sustainable.

Key findings and potential solutions

“Our results showed that within 10 minutes of their home, about 20 per cent of Montrealers do not have access to a grocery store,” Khorramisarvestani said.

“Additionally, about half the population does not have adequate access to grocery stores. Access isn’t just about the number or presence of stores—it’s also about the diversity of choices available.”

“We found that in areas where demand is high, access to stores is limited,” she added. “As a result, these areas require immediate intervention.” The study specifically pointed to underserved areas such as Montréal-Nord and the suburbs in general.

The study also highlighted that older adults and people with limited mobility are particularly affected by issues of proximity and travel time.

The results showed that Montreal’s high bike presence helps reduce accessibility inequalities and that neighbourhoods with bike lanes achieved better results.

However, the most effective way to access healthy food remains a combination of active modes with public transit.

Khorramisarvestani said implementing certain measures could be very beneficial.

“We suggest planning measures such as installing cycling infrastructure around grocery stores or adding shopping bag racks to these infrastructures,” she said. “Our results indicate that integrating this infrastructure with public transit could ensure near-complete access across Montreal.”

“Our results show that access to healthy food can be significantly improved by situating grocery stores near public transit,” she also said in a Concordia University article. “This way, people could pick up essentials on their way home from work.”

When asked by The Canadian Press about applying her study to other cities, Khorramisarvestani said she was confident the framework and methodology could be applied elsewhere. She added that small towns also face accessibility challenges.

She did note, however, that in some suburban areas and many small Canadian towns, certain zones are not considered in urban density studies and are often designed around cars, which complicates the situation.

Khorramisarvestani, who spent about six months working on this accessibility study, said she wants to learn more about Montreal’s urban and commercial structure.

She will soon work on a study examining the spatial distribution of businesses and their emotional dimension.

By Anja Conton

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 22, 2026.