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Eugenie Bouchard says she's proud of helping Canada advance to the World Group for the first time.The Canadian Press

Canada's Fed Cup playoff tie against Romania will be played April 18-19 at the Maurice Richard Arena in Montreal, Tennis Canada announced Tuesday.

The winner will have a spot among the top eight countries in the prestigious World Group I for 2016 while the loser will be relegated to World Group II.

"We are very fortunate to have the chance to play at home for a fourth consecutive tie," said Canadian Fed Cup captain Sylvain Bruneau. "We will once again be facing a very strong opponent, but we can choose what surface to play on and we will also have the crowd on our side.

"We know that keeping our place in the World Group will be a tough challenge, but at this level there are no easy matches."

Canada, which currently holds the No. 9 position in the Fed Cup rankings, has played three ties in Quebec over the last 13 months. Canada dropped its first-round World Group tie against the Czech Republic last month.

Players for the Canada-Romania tie will be announced in April.

The 12th-ranked Romanians could have world No. 3 Simona Halep and No. 34 Irina-Camelia Begu in their lineup. Seventh-ranked Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., declined to play for Canada against the Czechs and it's unclear whether she will play against Romania.

Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., is not expected to be ready as she continues her recovery from shoulder surgery.

Romania defeated Canada 3-0 in their only previous Fed Cup meeting in 1983.

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