Nonsuch Street was dedicated by the Canada Lands Company on December 10, 2013, as part of their redevelopment of Edmonton’s former Canadian Forces Base (Griesbach Barracks).
HMCS Nonsuch is the name of the Edmonton Division of the Canadian Navy (Reserve). The name Nonsuch comes from the French "non pareil," meaning eminent beyond or above comparison, somebody or something of unequaled excellence. Many ships in the Royal Navy have borne the name Nonsuch. At the Edmonton Division, there is a plaque bearing the battle honours of Nonsuch dating, for different ships of the same name, from 1652 through to 1916. The name was used in 1947 as the name for a captured German destroyer.
The White Ensign was first in Edmonton in April 1923, when a Naval Half-Company under the command of the late Lieutenant-Commander Athol Blair MacLeod was formed. This half company grew to a strength of upward of 225 officers and men. The Hudson's Bay Company’s Edmonton horse barns in the River Valley were sold to the Department of National Defence in 1939 to house the small Naval Reserve Division that had previously been at the Prince of Wales Armories. It was called the Nonsuch in recognition of the role of that name in both the Navy and the Hudson Bay Company.
The Naval Reserve Division went on active service on September 10, 1939. Through the years that followed, several thousand naval volunteers passed through basic training at the land-bound ship which became HMCS Nonsuch. For practical water training, a summer base was established at Lake Wabamun. The unit was de-commissioned in 1964. This street is named in recognition of its strong Edmonton history and respect for those who trained for service through the facility.