The Supreme Court of Canada has sided with the City of Montreal in the city's three-year fight to get the CBC and the Port of Montreal to pay their property taxes the same way privately-run corporations do.

The issue in the case stemmed from whether such Crown corporations should pay the same tax rate — known as payments-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILTs) — as Montreal private property owners currently do.

The court's Thursday ruling means the two Crown corporations will pay for the municipal services their properties receive in Montreal.

The issue first arose in 2003 after Montreal changed its tax system following the 2000 municipal amalgamations.

Montreal abolished its occupancy tax system and established a variable rate property tax that would allow the city to recover the income it would lose after eliminating the former tax.

The CBC and the port challenged the city over how much they pay in PILTs, refusing to pay the amounts claimed by Montreal, which were calculated using one of the rates applicable to non-residential immovables, the Supreme Court decision stated.

The case made its way to the Federal Court with Judge Luc Martineau ruling in 2007 in favour of the city, saying the federal agencies had a duty to pay Montreal.

Montreal stands to receive $20 million from the Supreme Court ruling, local media reported.

"Municipalities had a lot at stake in this case, and this ruling is a victory," Federation of Canadian Municipalities CEO Brock Carlton said in a statement.

"Fair and predictable PILT revenues are crucial for municipalities struggling to deliver a growing range of services with just eight cents of every tax dollar collected."

Carlton said the ruling gives Canadian municipalities a guarantee that "as federal departments and Crown corporations feel their budgets being pinched by the government's deficit reduction efforts, they won't be able to dodge their property tax obligations either."