Burnett was diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer in 2022 while working as a migrant worker in Nova Scotia.

The 42-year-old originally from Jamaica was fired from her seasonal job picking strawberries on a farm in Colchester County, N.S. last year.

Migrant workers in Nova Scotia must have a one year work permit to be eligible for provincial healthcare coverage, MSI. Without the coverage Burnett was paying for chemotherapy treatments and surgeries out of pocket.

“With the Interim Federal Health Program, Kerian’s situation is rare,” Stacey Gomez, manager of the migrant worker program at No One Is Illegal- Nova Scotia says. “It’s a very important win for migrant worker rights in Nova Scotia.”

Burnett’s attorney, Thiago Buchert from the Halifax Refugee Clinic, submitted Burnett’s application in December 2022 for discretionary coverage from the Interim Federal Health Program, IFHP, which Burnett received a positive decision on.

“We're very thankful and very happy that the federal government has decided to approve this case,” Buchert says.

Buchert says they requested for the application to be expedited due to the severity of Burnett’s situation but only just received the positive decision on August 11.

“We took a two track approach,” Burchert says.

Burchert submitted the application for the federal funding, while Gomez focused on the provincial funding.

There has been no word back from the province on Burnett’s application, Gomez says.

“Right now, we're going to definitely be meeting with other organizations in Nova Scotia to see how we can continue to push forward to ensure that MSI for all becomes a reality,” Gomez says.

Burnett says she is still unsure what she will do when her coverage ends in January.

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