Canadian businesses from coast to coast — from ice cream companies to beer companies to small firms — are banding together to protect Lake Ontario’s name after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to change it.
The American president, currently in a trade war with Canada, has ordered that maps in the U.S. rename the “former Lake Ontario” to “Lake America.” The Geographics Name Information System in the U.S. has already made it official, he said.
Much like the “Elbows Up!” movement that defined Canada’s federal elections last year, a similar campaign is growing to reaffirm that Lake Ontario will remain Lake Ontario, as it has for hundreds of years.
Some Canadian businesses — and some international brands — are taking up the charge.
Ontario chocolate bar
Peace by Chocolate, by Nova Scotia confectioner Tareq Hadhad, was quick to launch a new chocolate bar for the Canada Collection on Thursday night, hours after Trump signed his executive order.
Dubbed the “Lake Ontario Canada Bar,” the 92-gram sweet combines milk chocolate with maple cream flavours.
“‘ONTARÍ’IO’ is an Indigenous name that existed long before today’s borders. That history should not be erased,” a post on X announcing the new chocolate bar said.
The company also previously unveiled chocolate bars titled “Elbows Up,” “Strong and Free,” “Go Canada Go” and more in keeping with the Canadian spirit.
Lake Ontario, actually
Paulo Senra, the chief of communications for Canada Soccer and “abstract artist,” said instead of feeling helpless and angry at the attempt to name the body of water Lake America, “I did a thing. A small act of polite Canadian defiance.”
Senra posted a picture of himself rocking a “Lake Ontario, actually” baseball cap and opened it up for pre-sale for other eager Canadians on a website with the caption, “Some things don’t need rebranding.”
Elbows Up armchair
Moosehead Breweries, a Canadian brewery since 1867 with humble beginnings in a Nova Scotia backyard, is also joining the retail picket line.
Legal Canadian residents of drinking age are eligible to enter a content to win a Moosehead Lager Elbows Up Armchair.
The contest starts on Aug. 18 and a winner will be announced on Sept. 2.
Chapman’s ice cream ingredients
A staple of Canadian freezers everywhere, Chapman’s said it has been working since the first round of Trump’s “unjustified” tariffs to resource their ingredients.
“We are on track to convert over 70 per cent of our American ingredients by mid-2027,” Chapman’s said, either to Canadian or non-U.S. alternatives.
“We stand with the Canadian government, and all provinces, in our outright rejection of these unjustified tariffs. Walking away from a ‘deal’ that would sacrifice our economic sovereignty and harm the unique cultural identity of Quebec was the only option,” the ice cream company said earlier this week.
They also promised not to raise their ice cream prices despite tariffs.
Lake Ontario fridge magnets
Among this sea of Canadian brands is a little help from a company across the pond.
After Trump signed his executive order supposedly renaming Lake Ontario, Baked Bean, a U.K.-based fridge magnet and key-chain supplier, shared their Lake Ontario fridge magnet, which features a view of the water body from Toronto.
“Take a little piece of Lake Ontario home with you,” the company said.
