Apple has relabelled Lake Ontario as “Lake America” for US users of its Maps app, becoming the second major technology company to adopt the new name after President Donald Trump ordered the change amid his escalating trade dispute with Canada.
As of Wednesday morning, Apple Maps displayed “Lake America” for US users viewing the lake that sits between New York state and Canada’s Ontario province, while users outside the US continued to see the name Lake Ontario. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the change. The switch came days after Google made a similar update to its own maps platform for US-based users over the preceding weekend.
What Change Has Apple Made To Its Maps App in America?
The renaming affects only how the lake appears to people browsing Apple Maps from within the US, with the original name unchanged for international users, including those in Canada. US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox Business earlier in the week that Trump had reached out to Apple “directly” to request the update, shortly before the company implemented the change.
Why Did Donald Trump Order Renaming to Lake America?
Trump issued the order for the new name last week, one of several recent moves in a trade dispute with Canada that has seen tariffs rise on both sides. It is not the first time his administration has sought to rename a body of water: last year, Trump ordered the Gulf of Mexico renamed the Gulf of America, and Apple and Google both later updated their US maps accordingly, alongside a separate change to Mount Denali’s designation.
How Has Canada Responded To America’s Move?
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected the renaming last week, pointing to the lake’s Indigenous origins and noting that the name predates both the Canadian Confederation and the US Declaration of Independence.
Lake Ontario takes its name from the Huron Indigenous word “oniatarí:io”, meaning “lake of shining waters”. Ontario Premier Doug Ford also pushed back, telling the BBC he expected “it will still be called Lake Ontario” long after the current political dispute has passed. Canadian authorities have separately installed a sign at the lake reading “Lake Ontario. Now and Always,” and the government has said it will introduce “dollar-for-dollar” counter-tariffs in response to the latest US measures.
What Do Other Mapping Companies Say?
Google has said its own update reflects standard practice of following official government naming records, with the company noting in a statement that it aims “to reflect name changes in official government sources” when updating its maps. Not every provider has followed suit, however: MapQuest has declared it will keep the existing name and told users on social media they were free to label the lake however they wished within its own tools, a stance that reportedly helped push its app to the top of the US Apple App Store’s download charts.
How Does This Compare To Previous Renamings?
The Lake Ontario dispute closely mirrors the earlier row over the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump ordered renamed the Gulf of America via executive order on his first day back in office. As with the Gulf renaming, the latest change appears confined to how the lake is labelled for US-based users, rather than altering its internationally recognised name, and has again split major technology companies between compliance and resistance.
What Happens Next Amid US-Canada Trade Dispute?
With tariffs rising on both sides of the border and Ottawa preparing retaliatory measures, the naming dispute looks set to remain a visible symbol of the wider tension between Washington and its northern neighbour, even as the lake itself continues to appear under two different names depending on where a person happens to be searching from.
