The House of Commons voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of an NDP motion asking the government to sponsor a full state funeral when the last First World War veteran passes away.

Only three surviving First World War veterans - Dwight (Percy) Wilson, 105, and Lloyd Clemett and John Babcock, both 106 - are still alive.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said the government should recognize that a state funeral would celebrate "the contribution of a whole generation of Canadians who served, whether overseas or here at home and their families as well."

Layton told CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday morning that the funeral would allow the entire country to pay tribute to all those who served during the First World War.

"We won't be able to look them in the eyes anymore and thank them for their service the way we should for everyone who is willing to serve our country the way they did and our armed forces personnel still do," he said.

The concept was first proposed before Remembrance Day by the Dominion Institute, which said such a funeral would help promote memories of the long-ago conflict.

"We want to thank the tens of thousands of Canadians who signed our petition in support of a State Funeral," Rudyard Griffiths, executive director of the Dominion Institute said in a written statement.

"By passing a motion to offer a full state funeral today the Parliament of Canada will allow a grateful nation to pay proper tribute to our last Great War veteran on his passing and honour the over 600,000 Canadians he served with under arms from 1914-1918."

The veterans' advancing years created a groundswell of support for the proposal to follow the example of Australia, which held a state funeral for the final survivor of the Battle of Gallipoli.

By Tuesday morning, nearly 100,000 people had signed a petition on the institute's website asking that the Canadian government support the proposal.

There were initial concerns that the Conservatives would not support the motion.

A spokesman for Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson had said the Tories wouldn't say whether they would back the motion until they saw it.

A poll released on Remembrance Day found that three out of four respondents approve of a state funeral when the last First World War veteran dies.

State funerals are one of the highest honours a country can bestow on a person, but they're traditionally reserved for prime ministers and governors general.

More than 600,000 Canadians served in the First World War and 60,000 of those were killed.