Lake Ontario turns to ‘Lake America’ on Google Maps in US; Here’s what Canadian users see

Despite the change on the US version of Google Maps, the lake will continue to be displayed as Lake Ontario in Canada, according to a statement from Google.

"The U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) has formally changed the name for 'Lake Ontario' to 'Lake America' in the United States. Since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which is GNIS for the U.S., people using Maps in the U.S. will see 'Lake America,' those in Canada will continue to see 'Lake Ontario,' and those outside of the U.S. and Canada will see both names," Google said.

Last week, Trump signed an executive order seeking to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America".

The development comes amid strained trade relations between the US and Canada following the recent collapse of negotiations between the two countries.

After the talks failed to produce an agreement, the US imposed new 50 per cent tariffs on $20 billion (C$28 billion) worth of Canadian goods.

Trump had repeatedly threatened to rename the lake, one of the five Great Lakes shared by the US and Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney strongly opposed the proposed name change, citing the lake's centuries-old history.

"The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means 'the lake is beautiful, the lake is big'," Carney wrote on X.

"The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America," he added.