There's a Trump Avenue in Canada.
It won't be around much longer.
Ottawa city council voted on September 23 to rename the residential street, which dates to the development of the city's Central Park neighbourhood in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The decision comes during a tense stretch between Canada and the United States, with tariffs going in both directions and Donald Trump directing the U.S. federal government to call Lake Ontario "Lake America."
Two days after the vote, one of the Trump Avenue street signs was already gone.
Where Trump Avenue is
Trump Avenue is in Ottawa's Central Park neighbourhood.
Central Park was built with a New York City theme, and its street names follow it, including Bloomingdale Street, Manhattan Crescent and Staten Way.
Trump Avenue was part of that theme. When the neighbourhood was being developed, Donald Trump was best known as a New York real estate developer and businessman, years away from politics.
Why Ottawa voted to rename it
River ward Coun. Riley Brockington brought forward the motion, arguing the U.S. president doesn't deserve the honour given his repeated threats against Canada.
It didn't happen in isolation.
The U.S. imposed 50 per cent tariffs on $27.6 billion worth of Canadian goods in August. Canada responded dollar for dollar with tariffs of 15, 25 and 50 per cent on $27.6 billion worth of U.S. imports, in effect since September 8. They cover products including steel, dairy, appliances, farm equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics.
"I do believe this is about a new beginning," Brockington said at City Hall, "and I want this to be a community-led process where the community ultimately will select and recommend to city council what that new name will be."
The city says it wouldn't pass today's rules
There's a second reason, and it comes from the City of Ottawa itself.
The city says Trump Avenue was never intended as a commemorative street name. It came out of the neighbourhood's New York theme, not an attempt to honour Trump.
But the city says the name wouldn't meet its current criteria for commemorative naming, and that street names should reflect today's standards and community values.
Under today's rules, it wouldn't make the cut.
Then a sign went missing
On Friday afternoon, the blue-and-white Trump Avenue sign at the corner of Whitestone Drive was gone. Its disappearance had been flagged on social media earlier that day.
The other Trump Avenue signs in the neighbourhood were still standing.
The City of Ottawa said it's looking into what happened. Once staff have "confirmed the status of the sign," it will decide on next steps, including whether to replace it.
The city hasn't said whether someone took it or whether city crews removed it. For now, it's a missing sign, not a confirmed theft.
The city was clear on one thing. Street signs are "a critical piece of infrastructure for reporting and responding to emergencies," it said, and shouldn't be removed, damaged or taken.
Ottawa tried this before
This isn't the first attempt.
In 2021, an effort to rename the street failed after consultation found residents split. Many who opposed it weren't defending Trump. They were worried about the hassle.
A street rename means updating a home address on driver's licences, bank and credit accounts, insurance, government records and deliveries.
Council makes the decision. The people living on the street deal with the paperwork.
Five years later, the rename is going ahead.
What will Trump Avenue be called?
Nobody knows yet.
The city says residents will be consulted on a replacement in a process led by the River ward councillor. A recommended name is expected to go back to council by spring 2027.
Until a replacement is approved, it's still officially Trump Avenue.
The suggestions are already coming in
Consultation hasn't started, but people online already have ideas.
On Reddit, users have floated Obama Avenue, Terry Fox Drive, Lake Ontario Drive and Tragically Hip Street.
Some are clearly jokes. Others aren't far off from what a real consultation might produce.
The neighbourhood offers an obvious direction. Central Park already borrows heavily from New York, so a replacement that keeps the theme would fit the streets around it. A New York name without a person attached would also avoid the problem that sank Trump Avenue in the first place.
Then there's the practical side that shaped 2021. People who have to change their address may care as much about whether the new name is short and easy to spell as what it represents.
Residents get their say. Council gets the final vote.
From Lake America to Trump Avenue
The two naming fights mirror each other.
On August 27, Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. federal government to use "Lake America" for Lake Ontario in federal maps, documents and databases. The order applies only to U.S. federal usage. Canada still calls it Lake Ontario.
Four weeks later, Ottawa voted to take Trump's name off one of its streets.
About that missing sign
There's one last bit of irony.
The City of Ottawa already sells decommissioned street signs once they're taken out of service. Trump Avenue signs could eventually be available to anyone who wants one.
So if someone did take the missing sign, and the city hasn't said that's what happened, they may have simply jumped the gun.
For now, Trump Avenue is still Trump Avenue. It's just one sign short.
Sources
City of Ottawa, council news release, September 2026
City of Ottawa, city council meeting, September 23, 2026
List of products from the United States subject to counter-tariffs effective September 8, 2026, Department of Finance Canada
Executive Order 14422, The White House, August 27, 2026
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