{
  "id": 4701313,
  "title": "Ontario agencies restore Lake Ontario to their websites after Google Maps updated it to Lake America in the U.S.",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/31/ontario-agencies-restore-lake-ontario-to-their-websites-after-google",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-31T19:34:18.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "National Post",
    "slug": "national-post",
    "url": "https://nationalpost.com/news/ontario-agencies-restore-lake-ontario-on-maps"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Several Ontario government websites briefly displayed a name change for Lake Ontario to \"Lake America\" after Google Maps updated its information. According to the Toronto Sun, Hydro One stated that the issue originated from a third-party mapping service. The name change was reportedly made in response to a US executive order, but it did not affect Canadian naming conventions.\n\nThe Winnipeg Free Press reported that online posts falsely claimed Canada was blocking vessels from entering Lake Ontario through a canal on the St. Lawrence Seaway unless they referred to the lake as Lake Ontario. However, there is no evidence to support this claim, and the corporation managing the seaway on the Canadian side said marine traffic was unaffected.\n\nThe name change was only visible to US users of Google Maps, with people in Canada and elsewhere seeing the lake's name as Lake Ontario. According to the National Post, four Ontario government websites showed the incorrect name before correcting it, with no two websites fixing it in the same way.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Techmeme",
        "title": "Interior Secretary says President Trump \"reached out to Apple directly\" about changing Lake Ontario to Lake America and the company may soon alter its maps (Reuters)",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/31/interior-secretary-says-president-trump-reached-out-to-apple-directly",
        "published": "2026-08-31T14:36:14.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Toronto Sun",
        "title": "Feds force Google to scrub ‘Lake America’ from Canadian sites",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/31/feds-force-google-to-scrub-lake-america-from-canadian-sites",
        "published": "2026-08-31T18:04:52.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Global News",
        "title": "Why some Canadian website maps show ‘Lake America’ instead of Lake Ontario",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/31/why-some-canadian-website-maps-show-lake-america-instead-of-lake",
        "published": "2026-08-31T20:14:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}