This article presents a survey of the solutions offered to firms in financial distress. The first section examines the role of debt in the firms' financing decisions. In particular, we discuss the impact of the use of debt on the value of the firm and its importance in the presence of asymmetric information and agency costs. The second section presents a discussion of the solutions to financial distress with a particular emphazis on the use of the bankruptcy law. We discuss the functionning of the Canadian bankruptcy law, the problems arising from the use of legal frameworks such as those prevailing in Canada and in the U.S., as well as a number of alternative mechanisms to the existing legal system.