Tech big says identify to stay Lake Ontario for Canadian customers, change displays resolution by US authorities company.
Google has modified the identify of Lake Ontario to Lake America on its maps in america after an order by US President Donald Trump to rename the physique of water as commerce tensions escalate with Canada.
The tech big mentioned in a press release on Saturday that the identify of the lake shall be up to date for US customers however nonetheless seem as Lake Ontario in Canada. Folks outdoors the US and Canada will see each names.
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Google mentioned the choice displays the change made by the US Geographic Names Info System (GNIS).
“These updates comply with our long-standing coverage for our bodies of water with names that fluctuate from nation to nation, and are beginning to roll out now,” the corporate added.
Customers within the US began reporting the replace on Sunday.
Google adopted an identical coverage when Trump unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico because the Gulf of America final yr.
Apple Maps, which abided by Trump’s identify change for the Gulf of Mexico, nonetheless exhibits the lake as Lake Ontario for customers within the US as of Sunday.
The Trump administration on Thursday renamed the lake, which sits between the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of New York, as a slight to Canada.
The US president had threatened to vary the identify of the lake as a retaliatory measure towards Canada. Earlier this month, Trump imposed 50 % tariffs on some Canadian merchandise after the 2 nations failed to succeed in a commerce settlement. Canada retaliated with related levies.
On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney invoked the Indigenous roots of the identify Ontario.
“The identify Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat phrase Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means ‘the lake is gorgeous, the lake is large,’” he wrote in a social media submit. “The identify is greater than 400 years previous, predating each the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of america of America.”
Carney added that whereas the US is altering its commerce relationships, overseas coverage and names of its our bodies of water, “naming actuality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and at all times.”
Over the previous few days, Trump has shared a number of social media posts celebrating the identify change.
He shared an AI-generated video on Saturday exhibiting a flock of Canadian geese along with his blond comb-over hairdo holding machineguns and patrolling “Lake America”. The submit ends with the geese firing their rifles within the air.
Trump’s critics have mocked the coverage, arguing that the US is targeted on trivial points as an alternative of tackling actual issues that the nation is dealing with, together with the rising value of dwelling.
On Sunday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford mentioned Trump’s order to rename the lake “was one thing out of Saturday Night time Stay”, a US comedy present created and produced by a Canadian.
“Nobody’s going to name it Lake America. It’s been Lake Ontario for lots of of years. It’s going to proceed to be Lake Ontario,” Ford advised the US community ABC Information.
The controversy over the identify of the lake got here after the newest episode within the commerce conflict between the US and Canada.
Since returning to the White Home final yr, Trump has been utilizing tariffs to extend the value of imports from overseas nations as he seeks to treatment what he sees as an unfair imbalance with Washington’s buying and selling companions.
Canada has traditionally been one of many closest allies of the US. However because the third largest exporter to the US, Canada has grow to be some of the persistent targets of Trump’s commerce wars.
Past commerce woes, Trump has repeatedly questioned Canada’s standing as a sovereign nation.
Within the first months of his second time period, Trump referred to then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as governor, suggesting he was main a US state, not an impartial nation.
Carney succeeded Trudeau in March 2025 with a platform centered on pushing again towards Trump and serving to Canada modify to its altering relationship with the US.
