The redevelopment of the Félix-Leclerc (A-40) and Laurentienne (A-73) highway interchange in Québec City (Québec, Canada) required the construction of detention and retention basins to regulate the flow of stormwater directed towards drainage systems located downstream of the project. The largest basin was constructed as a retention pond, allowing the permanent presence of water and so an optimization of its ecological functions in an originally ecologically poor environment. The objectives of the development included the control of invasive alien plant species; the creation of habitat for plants and wildlife; the revitalization of the landscape; and the creation of a site that could evolve and mature naturally without human intervention. Properly designed, such basins can provide diverse ecological services, including regulating, provisioning, supporting and socio-cultural services, and, in the context of densification and urban sprawl, they can offer a solution to the inevitable anthropization of surrounding ecosystems. An appreciation by environmental approval and permitting bodies of the value of the environmental services provided by stormwater ponds, would encourage their wider use, and allow a better integration of sustainable development principles into infrastructure projects.