WASHINGTON: Google Maps has changed the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” for users in the United States after President Donald Trump announced the renaming, adding another dispute to already strained US-Canada relations.
Google said users in Canada would continue to see “Lake Ontario”, the centuries-old name of the Great Lake shared by Canada and the United States. Users elsewhere will see both names.
Google Maps Follows US Government Database
Google said the change followed an update to the US Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), the federal government’s official database for geographical names.
“Since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources,” the company said, US users would see “Lake America”, while Canadians would continue seeing “Lake Ontario”.
Apple Maps, meanwhile, continued to display Lake Ontario for US users.
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The move follows Trump’s 2025 decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America”, which Mexico rejected.
Lake Ontario is the smallest by surface area of North America’s five Great Lakes and lies between Ontario province and New York state.
Canada Criticises ‘Lake America’ Change
Ontario Premier Doug Ford strongly criticised the renaming, calling it “absolutely backwards” and predicting people would continue calling the waterway Lake Ontario.
The controversy comes amid an escalating US-Canada trade dispute, with both countries imposing tariffs on each other’s goods.
Trump intensified criticism of Canada on Sunday, declaring that he did not want Canadian cars or auto parts and accusing the country of taking advantage of the United States.
Ford countered that tariffs on Canadian products would ultimately increase costs for Americans and warned that escalating the trade conflict could damage the deeply integrated North American automotive industry.
Canada has imposed counter-tariffs ranging from 15% to 50% on US products, while Trump has threatened to double tariffs on some Canadian automotive parts to 50%.
The naming dispute now adds a symbolic dimension to growing economic tensions between two historically close neighbours.
