Google Maps changes Lake Ontario to ‘Lake America’
Google has renamed Lake Ontario as “Lake America” on Google Maps for users in the United States, following President Donald Trump’s announcement to change the name of the Canada-US Great Lake.
The change was visible to US users on Sunday, while people in Canada will continue to see the body of water identified as Lake Ontario.
Google said the different naming reflects its policy of following official government geographic databases in each country.
“Since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which is GNIS for the US, people using Maps in the US will see ‘Lake America,’ those in Canada will continue to see ‘Lake Ontario,’ and those outside of the US and Canada will see both names,” Google said on its blog.
The US-based technology company said it based the change on the US Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), the federal database responsible for official geographic names.
However, Apple’s Maps application, which comes pre-installed on iPhones, had not adopted the “Lake America” designation as of Sunday morning.
The renaming has added another dimension to growing tensions between the United States and Canada, with the longtime allies engaged in a trade dispute involving reciprocal tariffs.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford criticised both the name change and the broader dispute with the United States, describing the development as “absolutely backwards.”
“It’s absolutely backwards. It was like something out of (US comedy TV show) ‘Saturday Night Live’ when he signed a document saying — changed to ‘Lake America.’ No one’s going to call it Lake of America,” Ford told ABC talk show “This Week.”
“It’s just so disappointing.”
Ford also warned that an escalating trade war could severely damage both economies, arguing that the United States would suffer significant consequences because Canada is its largest market for vehicles.
He said a decline in Canadian purchases could put pressure on US automobile manufacturers, given the deeply integrated nature of the two countries’ auto industries.
“A tariff on Canada is nothing more than a tax on American people,” he said. “It’s probably the worst move you could ever do.”
Canada and the United States have closely linked automobile manufacturing industries, with Canadian plants supplying a significant amount of parts used in vehicles produced in the US.
Trump, however, defended his position on Sunday, saying Americans “want to make our own cars.”
“Canada has been ripping us off for years — NO LONGER!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
The Lake Ontario renaming follows Trump’s January 2025 decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, a move that was rejected by Mexico.
Lake Ontario is the smallest of North America’s five Great Lakes by surface area. It lies along the border between Ontario province in Canada and New York state in the United States.
The lake has historically been known as Lake Ontario, a name with Indigenous roots that has been in use since the 17th century.
