The CN Tower in Toronto features a bilingual message reading ‘Lake Ontario Always.’ This comes after President Donald Trump ordered the lake’s renaming to ‘Lake America.’ A photo shared with Newsweek shows the message in English and French, ‘Lac Ontario pour toujours,’ displayed across a window at the tower’s top.
The display includes bold red letters and a blue depiction of the lake, framed by Toronto’s skyline. However, neither the installation date nor the reasoning behind the message is confirmed. Newsweek contacted CN Tower Management for a comment but has not received a reply.
The CN Tower shared the phrase on social media, including in a LinkedIn post about the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Snowbirds September flyby, referencing ‘Toronto and Lake Ontario (always),’ with the French ‘lac Ontario (pour toujours).’
The backdrop comes as the CN Tower celebrates its 50th anniversary. Canada Lands Company, the tower’s owner, began the celebrations on January 21 with a C$21 million renovation of the Lower Observation Level.
The renovation added interactive video walls featuring Canadian artists, a new glass floor, and indoor viewing spaces open year-round. The attraction called OverView offers vistas 113 stories above Toronto, overlooking the tower’s Radome. These updates follow a 2018 Main Observation Level renovation that introduced extensive glass walls.
Importance of the Message
The bilingual display stands out amid Trump’s effort to rename the lake shared by the U.S. and Canada. Trump’s Executive Order 14422, signed on August 27, directed the Interior Department to use ‘Lake America’ in federal records. The order called for updated maps, contracts, and communications to reflect this change.
The order cites the lake’s economic and historical importance to the U.S., tasking the Interior Secretary with renaming coordination alongside the Board on Geographic Names. Despite this, the order doesn’t mandate Canadian adoption of the new name.
Canadian resistance is evident through other public displays, like Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s sign near Grimsby declaring ‘Lake Ontario. Now and Always.’ Independent from the CN Tower’s display, this sign reinforces Canadian opposition to the name change.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney voiced opposition in an August 27 post on X, asserting the original name’s permanence.
About Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is North America’s smallest Great Lake by surface area, sharing a border between New York State and Ontario. It serves as a key shipping channel, linking the Great Lakes to the Atlantic via the St. Lawrence Seaway. Cities like Toronto, Hamilton, and Rochester lie along its coastline.
The name Ontario, of Indigenous origin, dates back to around 1641, long before Canada’s and the U.S.’s formation. Interpretations include ‘sparkling water’ and ‘vast body of water,’ as per Canadian sources. The province derives its name from the lake.
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