Several Canadian websites, including federal government services and Ontario agencies, briefly displayed “Lake America” instead of Lake Ontario on their maps Sunday, creating confusion just a day after Google Maps announced that it would adopt the new US geographic name for users in the United States. The mapping change follows an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump that directs the lake to be renamed Lake America in the US government’s geographic names database.
Google said Saturday that its Maps service would reflect the change for users in the United States. But the new name appeared on several Canadian websites as well, despite Google saying the change would only affect US users.
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Why is Lake Ontario being called Lake America?
Google said it changed the name because the U.S. government's geographic names database had formally renamed the lake following Trump's executive order. The company said the change was based on the official U.S. geographic naming system rather than a decision to impose the new name globally.
However, some websites that use third-party mapping services began showing the US name on Sunday. The issue quickly drew attention in Canada, where Lake Ontario remains the lake's established Canadian name.
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Canadian websites showed “Lake America”
Several Canadian and Ontario-related services appeared to be affected. Maps on Hydro One's outage website, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) store locator, the GO Transit station finder and a federal government housing and infrastructure map were among those that appeared to show the lake as Lake America, reports CBC News.
