“Lake America” labels have been added to Google Maps, and President Donald Trump is urging Apple to do the same by making it a default feature on every iPhone.
Experts in the technology industry point out a concerning reality for many Canadian users and businesses: they are essentially confined to using these American-owned platforms as there are limited alternatives not originating from the United States.
Anne Pasek, a Canada Research Chair in Media, Culture, and the Environment at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, remarked, “Canadians are significantly impacted by American tech giants, and this fact often goes unnoticed until moments of controversy arise.”
She added, “Our online activities, along with many other aspects of our lives, are subject to American companies and their laws.”
Several Canadian websites, including government portals, exhibited maps renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America on August 30, following Google Maps’ adjustment to comply with an executive decree from U.S. President Donald Trump. Although Google stated the modification was targeted at American users, some Canadian sites using third-party protocols linked to Google’s U.S. API were affected by the change.
Recent changes on specific Canadian websites, including those of government entities and major banks, show Lake Ontario labeled as Lake America.
These alterations were in response to an executive order from Trump mandating the official renaming of one of the Great Lakes that separates the U.S. and Canada amidst escalating trade tensions.
Google implemented this change for U.S. users and presented an option for non-American websites to revert to displaying “Lake Ontario” by customizing their maps and setting their location to Canada.
The company clarified, “These updates align with our established policy for bodies of water with differing names across countries.”
U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum mentioned on Fox Business that Trump had reached out to Apple, requesting the adjustment of Lake Ontario to Lake America on its applications. Apple has not provided any comments in response to inquiries from CBC News.
Aside from offering navigation assistance to numerous users, mapping tools from major U.S. tech companies are deeply integrated into the operations and websites of many Canadian enterprises.
They facilitate providing crucial information like business hours, contact details, and reviews. Moreover, they support auto-completion of addresses on e-commerce platforms and enable monitoring of traffic and road conditions for ride-sharing and food delivery services.
Pasek highlighted, “There is a notable monopoly. Users are quite limited.”
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Emily Osborne, a policy research associate at the Canadian Shield Institute, a Toronto-based think-tank founded by BlackBerry co-founder Jim Balsillie to enhance technology and national security policies and safeguard Canadian intellectual assets, expressed concerns.
“We heavily depend on American corporations like Google and Apple for various digital services and online products, including navigation,” Osborne noted.
For basic navigation services, she
