The Vancouver Aquarium will receive $25 million in government funding to expand its facilities and update aging infrastructure, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell announced Monday.

The Canadian government will provide $15 million and B.C. will pitch in $10 million to support a total of eight projects.

In his speech announcing the funding, Harper praised the aquarium for its work rescuing marine mammals.

"There is something quite fundamentally decent, something we could even say noble, about what the aquarium does," he said.

But, he added, "The work of this crucial institution will be compromised without major upgrades to its facilities."

Campbell highlighted the aquarium's scientific and educational work in his speech.

"There are few things more important for us to understand than the literally millions of creatures that call the ocean their home," he said.

The aquarium's planned projects include improvements to the water treatment systems, new heating and cooling systems, a new emergency power back-up and new viewing windows.

A new entrance, expanded galleries and updated viewing areas are also planned.

Aquarium President John Nightingale told CTV News after the announcements that the total price tag for the planned upgrades will be about $60 million.

"We've obviously got some fundraising to do," he said.

The funding announcements come just weeks after the Vancouver Park Board rejected a proposal to hold a non-binding public vote on keeping whales in captivity during the 2011 municipal ballot.

Park Board Commissioner Stuart Mackinnon had proposed holding a referendum shortly after the death of a baby beluga at the facility in June.

The calf died from a blocked airway caused by inflammation, after rocks and a penny became trapped in an abnormal pocket in its airway.

Animal rights advocates have long called for the removal of whales from the facility.

The aquarium obtained its first whale in 1976, and now only accepts whales and dolphins that have been injured or raised in captivity.

Watch CTV News at Six for a report from Maria Weisgarber