Lake Ontario – now and forever

Hamilton City Council unanimously endorsed my motion ensuring the City of Hamilton, staff therein, documents thereof, and third-party service providers will not be using a foreign government’s label for Lake Ontario.

Recently, the United States Government directed that the name "Lake America" be used in U.S. federal geographical naming systems. As a result, mapping services have subsequently begun displaying that name to some users. In late August, a number of Canadian public-facing websites that embed third-party mapping services briefly displayed “Lake America” to users located in Canada, as a result of default regional settings in the mapping provider’s interface. It exposed the fact that foreign naming decisions can propagate into Canadian digital services.

In a 13-0 vote, Council unanimously supported my motion to ensure that mistake won’t happen again. Municipal mapping systems and digital applications used by residents should, to the extent within the City's control, accurately reflect names recognized in Canada that distinguish those names from foreign governments' usage.

Hamilton City Council recognizes that "Lake Ontario / Lac Ontario" is the official name recorded for Canadian purposes in the Canadian Geographical Names Database as identified through the Geographical Names Board of Canada for the Great Lake bordering Hamilton, and directs that "Lake Ontario" be used in all City of Hamilton documents, maps, publications, signage and communications.

Further, staff have been directed to review the City's Geographical Information System (GIS), online mapping applications and other City-controlled digital mapping platforms, to ensure that “Lake Ontario” or “Lake Ontario / Lac Ontario” is displayed as the City's designation for the lake. In addition, where third-party mapping data is incorporated into City systems, staff have will take all reasonable and practical steps to identify “Lake Ontario” or "Lake Ontario / Lac Ontario" clearly as the geographical names recorded for all uses by the City of Hamilton.