Although he hasn't yet been declared innocent, Romeo Phillion says he feels "fantastic" after Ontario's top court struck down his murder conviction and ordered a new trial into the case.

Phillion, who has been free on bail since 2003, spent more than three decades in jail after being convicted in the 1967 stabbing death of Ottawa firefighter Leopold Roy.

"I feel very happy about what happened. It's not over yet but it will be," Phillion told CTV's Canada AM on Friday.

"It's just a load off my shoulders."

In 1972, five years after Roy was stabbed to death, Phillion boasted to police that he committed the murder. Although he recanted his confession almost immediately, he was convicted of murder and sent to jail.

The court heard that investigators verified Phillion's alibi but that it was then discredited for reasons that were never documented.

It was revealed that prosecutors knew about the alibi but did not disclose that police had verified it when they presented their case during the 1972 trial. The alibi was an important component of the confession.

Appeal Court Justice Mike Moldaver said in his 103-page ruling that the jury sitting on the trial back then may have come to a different conclusion had evidence of the alibi been presented.

Phillion said knowing he was innocent was the only thing that kept him going.

"I knew someday the right people would hear me out and they'd do something about it," he said.

Phillion's lawyer James Lockyer said they're hoping for an acquittal rather than a dismissal of the charges.

"We're going to have to go to court at some point," Lockyer told CTV's Canada AM on Friday. "At that time what we're hoping is that the Crown will agree to offer no evidence against Romeo and he'll be acquitted finally of this crime that he didn't commit."

As for compensation, Phillion said he hasn't yet thought about it because he's been so focused on his exoneration.

"The tag is off my shoulders, that's what I've been looking for all these years," he said. "It's not over yet but it's coming, we're about two miles away."

He called his "confession" the saddest day of his life.

"I signed my life away for something I did not commit. That is unthinkable," Phillion said.

During his time in prison, Phillion made countless bids to appeal his conviction. His appeal was denied by the Ontario Court of Appeal in 1974 and by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1977.