Google Maps features another "America," and Canadians are not pleased.

      First the Gulf of Mexico, and now Google Maps has rebranded Lake Ontario.

      If you're in the United States and open Google Maps to find Lake Ontario, you might notice something seems off. It has now been renamed Lake America. Google started implementing this change following a formal update from the US Geographic Names Information System after an executive order from President Donald Trump. Google states that its policy is to reflect geographic names based on official government sources.

      This means that the map varies based on your location. Users in the US now see Lake America, while Canadians still see Lake Ontario. Users from other countries see both, labeled as Lake Ontario (Lake America). Sound familiar?

      Google has previously done this.

      A similar situation occurred with the Gulf of Mexico in early 2025 when the US government changed its designation to Gulf of America, prompting Google Maps to adapt accordingly. American users saw Gulf of America, while users in Mexico continued to see Gulf of Mexico—and most users worldwide saw both names. According to Google, the platform aligns with official government naming databases when there are discrepancies in regional names.

      Google reiterated this policy for Lake Ontario over the weekend, although the situation is different this time. Lake Ontario is part of the international border between the US and Canada, with much of its shoreline in Canadian territory. The US name change does not affect Canada's official name for it or the internationally recognized name.

      Your map now varies by location.

      For many Google Maps users, it is almost automatic to think that the names displayed in the app are static geographic features. In fact, Google has increasingly had to present different versions of the same map based on local governance and disputed naming conventions. The Gulf of Mexico example illustrates this effectively.

      Now, a person viewing Google Maps from New York can see Lake America, while someone directly across the water in Ontario sees Lake Ontario. Instead of choosing one name over the other, the map simply localizes according to the official naming sources in each country. However, it's going to take some time to adjust to two people looking at the same vast lake and seeing different names on the same application.