Some Ontario government business websites show ‘American Lakes’ on the map

Just 24 hours after Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled a sign declaring Lake Ontario is “now and forever,” the province launched a review after several agency websites displayed “American Lake” in their mapping applications.

Stephen Crawford, minister for public services and business provision, said in X that some websites pull map data directly from Google Maps.

“Following recent changes by Google, we are actively reviewing our websites to ensure they identify Lake Ontario by the 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 comes after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order this weekend amid the ongoing trade war between Canada and the US, as well as Ford’s harsh words after trade talks broke down last weekend.

Trump’s executive order says the US claims most of the “volume” of Lake Ontario and is largely responsible for its security, economic activity and environmental management.

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This weekend, Google Maps said in a post on its site that it was updating its maps to reflect name changes from official government sources, including the US Geographic Names Information Service (GNIS). The GNIS officially changed Lake Ontario to an “American Lake” in recent days.

As a result, Google says people using Maps in the US will now see “American Lakes,” while users in Canada will see Lake Ontario. Those living in or visiting countries outside Canada and the US will see a combination, with Lake Ontario listed but Lakes of the Americas in brackets.

But some people on social media noticed when searching for LCBO store locations, Hydro One outage maps and Infrastructure Ontario property listings that each featured “American Lake.” Global News has confirmed that these maps show the name, as does the store locator for Loblaws.

In a statement, Hydro One said it was aware that Lake Ontario was “incorrectly labeled on our outage map.”

“This issue stems from a third-party mapping service. We are working with our vendor to fix the issue as quickly as possible and restore proper geo-referencing. We regret the error and apologize for any confusion it has caused,” a Hydro One spokesperson said in an email.

Global News has also reached out to the LCBO for comment.

Google Maps is listed as the copyright holder and data provider for each map on the website.

This is not the first time Trump has changed the name of a location, this happened to the Gulf of Mexico early in his presidency. Its name was changed to American Bay, and Google, Apple, and Microsoft also renamed it on their maps.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.