Canadian Resistance to Trump’s Lake Renaming Effort

Toronto’s CN Tower is currently displaying a bilingual message that reads ‘Lake Ontario Always’ following an order from President Donald Trump to rename it ‘Lake America.’ A photograph released to Newsweek shows this message displayed in a window at the top of the tower, overlooking the waterfront. The message includes both English and French, with ‘Lac Ontario’ and ‘pour toujours’ featured prominently.

Large red letters are used in the display along with a blue illustration of the lake. Toronto’s buildings and shoreline appear beneath the message. The date of the display’s installation and the reasons for its wording have yet to be confirmed. Newsweek has reached out to CN Tower management for comment but has yet to receive a response.

Recently, the CN Tower has used the message in its official social-media communications. A LinkedIn post marks a September flyby by the Royal Canadian Air Force’s aerobatic flight demonstration team, the Snowbirds, with references to ‘Toronto and Lake Ontario (always),’ alongside the French wording ‘lac Ontario (pour toujours).’ The display comes during the CN Tower’s 50th-anniversary celebration. Canada Lands Company, the owner of the CN Tower, began the celebrations on January 21 with a C$21 million renovation of the Lower Observation Level.

This refurbishment brought new interactive video walls that showcase Canadian artists, a new glass floor, and year-round indoor viewing space. An attraction known as OverView offers visitors a vantage point 113 stories above Toronto, looking out over the tower’s Radome. These renovations followed a 2018 upgrade of the Main Observation Level, which implemented floor-to-ceiling glass walls.

The message serves as a vivid Canadian backdrop opposing Trump’s attempt to alter the name used by the U.S. federal government for the lake shared by both countries.

Trump signed Executive Order 14422 on August 27, instructing the Interior Department to adopt ‘Lake America’ and update federal geographic records accordingly. The order also required federal maps, contracts, and communications to reflect this change.

The directive describes the lake as a significant American economic and historical asset and the interior secretary is tasked with working alongside the Board on Geographic Names for the renaming process. However, these instructions concern U.S. federal naming practices and do not indicate that Canadian institutions have adopted this alternative name.

Resistance in Canada has already been visible through a separate public exhibit. Ontario Premier Doug Ford revealed a large sign near Grimsby stating ‘Lake Ontario. Now and Always.’ This sign differs from the CN Tower’s display.

Moreover, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney dismissed Trump’s move in an August 27 post on X, asserting that the lake’s established name would persist. ‘Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario—then, now and always,’ he emphasized.

What Is Lake Ontario, and Where Is It?

Lake Ontario is the smallest of North America’s five Great Lakes when considering surface area, straddling the U.S.-Canada border between New York State and Ontario. The lake serves as a critical shipping conduit, linking the larger Great Lakes region to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway. Cities such as Toronto, Hamilton, and Rochester are situated along its shores.

The name Ontario has Indigenous roots and was first recorded around 1641, predating both Canadian and U.S. establishments. Canadian government sources offer various translations for the name, such as ‘sparkling water’ or ‘vast body of water.’ The province itself shares its name with the lake.

Contact Newsweek editor on this story: Tony Phillips.