Just 24 hours after Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled a sign proclaiming Lake Ontario is “now and forever,” the province launched a review after some agency websites displayed “Lake America” in their mapping applications.
Stephen Crawford, minister of public and business service delivery and procurement, said on X that some of the websites pull map data directly from Google Maps.
“Following recent changes by Google, we’re actively reviewing our websites to make sure they all identify Lake Ontario by its correct name: Lake Ontario,” Crawford wrote.
The post came after people on social media noticed that maps on sites including Hydro One, Metrolinx, Infrastructure Ontario and the LCBO all displayed “Lake America.”
The new name came after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order late this week amid the ongoing trade war between Canada and the U.S., as well as harsh words by Ford after trade talks fell apart last weekend.
Trump’s executive order says the U.S. lays claim to most of the “volume” of Lake Ontario and is mostly responsible for its security, economic activity and environmental stewardship.
This weekend, Google Maps said in a post on its website that it updates its maps to reflect name changes from official government sources, which includes the U.S. Geographic Names Information Service (GNIS). The GNIS formally changed Lake Ontario to “Lake America” in recent days.
As a result, Google said people using Maps in the U.S. will now see “Lake America,” while those in Canada will see Lake Ontario. Those living or visiting countries outside Canada and the U.S. will see a combination, with Lake Ontario listed but Lake America in parentheses.
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But some people on social media noticed when searching the LCBO’s store locator, Hydro One’s outage map and Infrastructure Ontario’s list of properties that each displayed “Lake America.” Global News has confirmed these maps show the name, as does the store locator for Loblaws.
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In a statement, Hydro One said it is aware of Lake Ontario being “incorrectly labeled on our outage map.”
“The issue originates from a third-party mapping service. We are working with our vendor to correct the issue as quickly as possible and restore the proper geographic reference. We regret the error and apologize for any confusion it has caused,” a spokesperson for Hydro One said in an email.
Global News has also contacted the LCBO for comment.
Metrolinx, in an email to Global News, also acknowledged the “Lake America” label on its own maps and said it’s working to corrrect it.
“We are aware our maps are incorrectly displaying the name of Lake Ontario, following recent changes by Google. We are actively reviewing our websites to make sure they all identify Lake Ontario by its correct name: Lake Ontario,” a spokesperson for the agency said.
It added it has disabled the map function on the GO stations’ page where the incorrect display occurred.
Google Maps is listed as the copyright holder and data provider for each map on these websites.
It’s not the first time Trump has changed the name of a location, doing so with the Gulf of Mexico early in his presidency. It was renamed the Gulf of America, with Google, Apple and Microsoft also renaming it on their maps.
Google failed humanity.
Wow…who the f cares? Anyone with a lick of common sense knows this is all political posturing. Surely you TDS morons know this by now? It’s been two years of Trump, and still you froth at the mouth everytime…
If I search Toronto on Google maps, it shows Lake America. And I’m searching from Canada
Chop off then traveling through Canadian waters, land and air. Take away our electricity sent to them . Keep and refine our oil and gas, build our own vehicles.
@Ben still just saying nonsense in the comments… nothing is actually getting better..
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Stupid SQL.
Oops, someone forgot where they where dipping for their site data. How embarrassing, but paying attention to detail is not a strong point in most IT departments.
This why data centres designed by ‘coders’ tend to fail so much.
Lake America is displayed on the store locator for LCBO locations on Aug. 30, 2026???
Oh yeah~ It’s almost time!
Does anyone that was raised with common sense and critical thinking actually care? Nope.
This “Ben” character is clearly a Russian troll.
Remember when Ottawa wanted to rename a BC mountain after Pierre Trudeau. The guy was loathed out west.
I have changed washington DC to small town Trump.
F*CK YOU BEN!!!
@Ben. Elbows up, knees down, mouth open is the Canadian way
And all you lefties are losing your minds! Hahahahahahahahaha!
Maybe Lake Michigan should be renamed Lake Canada!
Bahaha. It’s Lake America on Google.com/Maps in Alberta
It appears that the SaskPower and Nova Scotia Power outage maps are still displaying “Lake America” for Lake Ontario, whereas most other organizations and mapping platforms have already updated their maps or continue to use the internationally recognized name, “Lake Ontario.
Personally, I am boycotting all Google enterprises.
Once Canadians beg for the USA to rescue Canada from the economic shambles the Liberals have forced on Canadians and Canada becomes ‘America North’ I expect Trump to rename the Arctic Ocean to Ocean America.
@ElbowDown 1150pm. I’ll just answer a few of your points. We have a low debt to GDP ratio compared to other G7 countries. We’ve managed to reduce poverty and particularly child poverty under the Liberals. If you want better results, vote NDP Provincially and Federally.
so ontario gov uses vpn lol what are they afraid of. i dont understand
Tell me when only half of Lake Ontario is in U.S. territory can anyone even Google Maps think he can change the name of the whole lake, think about.
I think the Canadian Government should just quit talking and explaining and simply take care of business.
We don’t need to be mouthing off.
Let those who want to thump their chest’s, thump away.
Actions speak louder than word’s.
Get things done and quit crying.
A fool will always be a fool.
Carney the master negotiator!
1.4 TRILLION dollar national debt
2.3 million Canadians visit a foodbank each MONTH
Record high homelessness, drug addiction and foodbank visits.
Uncontrolled mass immigration
Weakest g7 military
Only g20 nation in a recession
Elbows up 🤡
Fern is a MAGA traitor. Get out traitor.
I immediately uninstalled Google Maps. Will look for some other map method.
Also will stop contributing to Google Reviews via their map system, and delete post reviews.
Elbozos in shambles today!
Seems those orgs have the map services or Apps hosted in US Datacenters rather than Canadian Datacenters. Bring our data home.
Breaking! Trump just renamed Canada to Clownada
Ford just renamed North America to North Canada
What does it matter, we don’t live in Canada anymore either.
What the actual F!!
This is just getting stupid now. People are losing jobs, companies closing, people are using food banks in record numbers, we have Canadians living on the streets and Canadians worrying about the price of food and keeping a roof over their heads and the only thing the media and government officials are worried about is the name of a Lake. Everyone needs to give their head a shake.
Hardly a surprise. Canada is a puppet state. Not sure why they’re mad about making it offiicial
@Dofo Dufus
“We all know Doug is a big fan of Trump and the US and is just pretending to be Captain Canada.”
You clearly don’t remember when Justin prorogued parliament, for no reason other than to save the LPC from oblivion, and it was Ford as head of the association of premiers as the only person negotiating with the then incoming Trump administration about his intent to tariff the world. We had no federal negotiators. Ministers, the ones who hadn’t announced they weren’t running again, were busy campaigning in their ridings.
A few months earlier to those events the country saw a record 100k people emigrate away from Canada due to the economic impact of the Lost Liberal Decade. Yet parliament was shut and the opposition was not able to question the government. Now as per a recent KPMG poll, 40 percent of manufactures are actively looking to move production down south. We have been trying to play catch up evdr since Trudeau prorogued parliament.
Come on Hydro…….come on LCBO….
This is the stupidest thing. Canadians are lining up at food banks, but the Liberal elite and the media are obsessed with giving Trump as much attention over this as he’d ever want.
What’s the worst thing you can do to a narcissist? Ignore him!
Instead, every day we get new stories about how outraged Canadians are and federal cabinet ministers are lining up to give press conferences on the matter. We are a nation of children.
These companies should be told immediately to display LAKE ONTARIO! Ridiculous! Nothing but ass kissing to DJT!
Interesting that sites Hydro One, Metrolinx, Infrastructure Ontario and the LCBO show Lake America.
We all know Doug is a big fan of Trump and the US and is just pretending to be Captain Canada for political brownie points
This is literally the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.. Why go along and give into Trumps tantrum?
Hopefully the Americans will get a professional President in the next term. Americans must be sooo embarrassed
Can we sue Google maps for giving fraudulent information?
The changing of the lake is illegal as you need authorization and signatures of both sides to make it real.
Idiots