The Parti Québécois's campaign focused on providing good government, in contrast to the many scandals that had plagued the Liberals since 1973.

The first bill introduced in the new session of the National Assembly was legislation to confirm French as the sole official language of Quebec, and to implement measures to make this a social reality.

With some modifications, the Charter of the French Language remains in effect today and has shaped modern Quebec society in far-reaching ways.

The 1976 election also set the stage for the 1980 Quebec referendum on the PQ's proposal for political independence in an economic union with the rest of Canada called sovereignty-association.

The Unionists and the créditistes decided not to nominate candidates in Beauce-Sud, in order to clear the way for the pénépiste Fabien Roy to hold the riding.

The PNP had attempted to merge with the UN earlier in August,[2] but the effort was called off in September because of a falling-out between Choquette and the UN leader Rodrigue Biron.