The impact of corporate governance on long term survival of small businesses in Canada

Small businesses are the bedrock of every nation’s economy, and Canada is not an exception. However, small businesses are plagued by low survival rates, partly due to inexperienced management and poor financial planning among other issues and challenges. This article considers the impact of corporate governance on long-term survival of small businesses in Canada. Presented is the lens of two opposing theories of corporate governance (stakeholder and resource dependency) that, if viewed together, help explain the importance of corporate governance and how the implementation of some corporate governance principles and frameworks can help increase the chances of survival of small businesses.