The sociological imagination is the concept of thinking in a broader spectrum,
looking at society as a whole when presented with an issue, rather than examining the
focused issue at hand. It can also be defined as a form of enlightened thinking: the
capacity to see an issue or situation from different or unbiased perspectives. The
sociological imagination is useful in examining Canadian society, as solutions can be
reached if issues in Canada today are examined in a wider scale. For example, one of
the biggest issues facing Canada today is immigration. Immigrants make up a
significant portion of the workforce, since they are brought in based on favourable traits
(“Immigrate to Canada”). An individual may one day walk into a small shop owned by an
immigrant family, and may wonder whether immigration is beneficial or harmful to
Canadian society. One perspective of an individual thinking with a sociological
