The airfield was established in 1927 as a private and commercial interest by bush pilots, with support from the Mayor of Edmonton, airfield namesake Kenny Blatchford, opening a few months after he ended his term as mayor with his election as a Member of Parliament representing the city.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers built two runways at the base, 03/21 and 12/30, both 2,100 m (6,890 ft) long and Canada's longest at the time.

Because Namao at that time had a 4,200-metre (13,780 ft) runway, 12/30, it was designated an emergency Space Shuttle landing site by NASA.

[14] These units are headquartered at CFB Edmonton: The principal function of the CFB Edmonton today is to field a general purpose combat-effective mechanized brigade group, or any portion thereof, ready for deployment to a minimal-intensity battlefield in accordance with assigned tasks.

[20] The base as a collective is an important part of the community surrounding Edmonton and is home to some of the most prestigious and experienced units in the Canadian Military.

[20][21] The 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, along with elements of Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) and 1 Combat Engineer Regiment (all part of 1 CMBG) were chosen to be a part of Canada's military response to the September 11, 2001 attacks and were deployed on combat operations to Afghanistan (including Operation Anaconda[22]) in 2001 and 2002.

Units from the base were deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, as part of the Canadian Forces command takeover in that area as well.

Units from CFB Edmonton were also deployed on numerous peacekeeping operations, including to Bosnia and Kosovo, among others.

[26] At the end of March 2010 there were 4,237 regular military, 905 reserve Class A, B, and C forces, and 665 civilian workers at CFB Edmonton.

[28] It was ultimately decided to operate all medical flights out of a purpose-built facility at the Edmonton International Airport.

[32][33][34][35] In August 2016 CFB Edmonton troops joined the NATO mission in Poland, Operation Reassurance.

Prisoners are forbidden to speak with other inmates, smoke or have visitors until they earn 112 marks, which are given out at a maximum of eight per day, but fewer for misbehaviour.