Several mapping companies have re-labelled Lake Ontario as "Lake America" following an order from US President Donald Trump, sparking even more anger across Canada and parts of the US over the weekend.
Trump issued an executive order last week changing the name of the lake, which is jointly shared by the US and Canada, following trade talks that fell apart after the Americans pushed last-minute changes, according to Canadian negotiators and Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Trump posted an AI-generated video of him placing a “Lake America” sign on the shores of a body of water on the weekend. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, in turn, unveiled a large “Lake Ontario” sign on the shores of the lake near Niagara Falls.
Carney last week said the name of the lake has been Ontario “then, now and always.”
Musicians and other artists also have weighed in. Canadian band Blue Rodeo played its annual summer concert at the RBC Stage at Ontario Place on 29AUG and made a point of highlighting the change before playing its popular song, “Hasn’t Hit Me Yet,” which features the line “out in the middle of Lake Ontario.”
The crowd, which included this Open Jaw correspondent, went wild and screamed out the words “Lake Ontario” as the band played.
We're proud Canadians, folks!
— Blue Rodeo (@bluerodeo.bsky.social) 2026-08-28T20:20:18.450Z
Hochul criticized the president in an interview with NY1.
“I'm speechless. It is so patently absurd,” she said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the move “juvenile,” and said Trump’s trade policies would hurt New York residents.
Sowing confusion
Google said Sunday the Ontario/America change would only affect US users, but according to the CBC, a number of websites for Ontario and Canadian entities appeared to display Lake America on maps.
Among them were Ontario's Hydro One outage map, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario's (LCBO's) store locator, Toronto's GO Transit's station finder and the federal government's housing and infrastructure map.
MapQuest, an American online mapping service, said on X/Twitter that would not change the lake's name, and then invited users to choose their own name.
Apple has not publicly commented on the matter, but it appears they are altering their maps to read “Lake America.”
"The president reached out to Apple directly, so I'm sure that we may be seeing that change coming up soon to Lake America," US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said 31AUG in an interview on Fox Business' "Mornings with Maria" program.
KCEN Television in Texas said the move could cause confusion as Trump’s “Lake America” ruling doesn’t apply to states or cities that issue maps, or to private companies. The station interviewed a maker of world globes who said they’ll now have to make two versions, one with Lake Ontario and one with Lake America.
Trade tiff to lake renaming
Trump has been publicly angry at Canada for a year and a half.
The Trump administration and the government of Canada were in talks to sign a deal that would end the current tariff war between the two countries. But the talks broke down 10 days ago after the US was said to have asked for language that Carney said would infringe on Canada’s sovereignty.
Ford lashed out at Trump, saying the president could kiss his behind. Trump, shortly thereafter, said he was changing the name of Lake Ontario, which is an Indigenous word that most experts say means “shining water.”
The word has appeared on maps for centuries, and the province of Ontario was named for the lake.
Although some media reports stated that Trump has already renamed Lake Ontario, the presidential order doesn’t quite do that.
Instead, it instructs the Secretary of the Interior and the Board on Geographic Names to update the name for federal use within 30 days. The President can’t unilaterally change geographic names; that authority sits with the Secretary and the BGN under powers delegated by Congress.
A PBS story also suggests the US could sanction countries that don’t go along with the alteration.
“Though the Board on Geographic Names has changed the name to Gulf of America on official US maps, and even if it approves the name change of Lake Ontario, there is no international board in charge of place names. Each country decides what to call places. And there is no official way for the US to make other countries change the names on their maps.
“It's possible, however, that the US could formally ask other countries to change a name or even impose sanctions against countries that don't comply.”
Cornell University Law Professor Michael C. Dorf wrote that U.S. law requires that geographic names “serve the interests of the Federal Government and the general public” and directs the BGN to “give full consideration to the specific interests of particular Federal and State agencies.”
The board, which is made up of federal appointees who serve two-year terms, endorsed Trump’s executive order for the Gulf of America and is widely expected to bow to pressure from above and do the same with Lake Ontario.
The State of New York has said it wants the name Lake Ontario to stay in place, Dorf noted, adding there are many companies in the state with Lake Ontario in their name, including Lake Ontario Fruit and Lake Ontario Realty, and that they would be impacted by the change.
It’s not uncommon for governments to change place names. The City of Toronto renamed Dundas Square to Sankofa Square in 2023 due to concerns that Henry Dundas didn’t do enough to fight slavery. President Barack Obama, responding to a 40-year fight by Alaska natives to rename Mt. McKinley, changed the mountain’s name to Denali.
But those name changes were for geographic entities entirely within a country’s borders.
Trump took things to another level by issuing an executive order that officially changed the name “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America" in January of 2025. US authorities are bound by his executive orders and have renamed the Gulf on US maps.
Some companies now use Gulf of America on their maps. Others don’t. Google Maps in Canada reads “Gulf of Mexico” but with “Gulf of America” below it in parentheses.
