Montreal's controversial decision to rename Vimy Park after former Quebec premier Jacques Parizeau has been made official.

The "intimate" ceremony took place this afternoon at the small neighbourhood park. Members of Parizeau's family and Outremont Mayor Marie Cinq-Mars attended.

City council voted overwhelmingly in favour of the plan in June.

Critics have slammed the name change, calling it an insult to rename a park dedicated to the World War One Battle of Vimy Ridge after Parizeau, a politician who nearly led Quebec to independence in the 1995 referendum on sovereignty.

Parizeau lived near the park for years and, as a child, attended nearby Stanislas College. The proposal to rename it was originally made by Outremont's historical society.

Following the name change, Mayor Denis Coderre said the city would create two new public spaces in 2017 to commemorate the battles of Vimy Ridge and Dieppe.

Last month, Coderre announced a portion of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Park would be renamed as Vimy Place.