N環球 
Hong Kong to pilot foreign home carers from late 2027, pay 10–20% above domestic helpers
Labour and Welfare Secretary Chris Sun says a pilot scheme to import foreign home carers with advanced elderly-care training is expected to launch in the second half of 2027, with minimum wages provisionally 10–20% higher than those of domestic helpers.
Why it matters
Hong Kong's population is ageing rapidly and demand for home-based elderly care is growing. The 2026 Policy Address proposed admitting foreign domestic carers with more advanced training and experience in elderly care on a pilot basis, modelled on the existing foreign domestic helper regime, to look after elderly people living at home. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun on October 4 gave further details of the plan.
Full report
Speaking on a TV programme, Sun said the pilot is expected to launch in the second half of 2027, bringing in several hundred workers a year in the initial phase. Participants must complete at least 150 hours of accredited pre-arrival training and pass assessments — far more advanced than the basic first-aid and medication-assistance courses commonly given to domestic helpers — and applicants need at least three years of elderly-care experience. Helpers currently in Hong Kong who wish to switch must first return to their home countries to complete the training and gain accreditation.
On pay, the provisional view is a minimum wage 10 to 20 per cent higher than that for foreign domestic helpers, whose minimum rose to HK$5,220 a month on October 3. Sun said the new carers are domestic workers equipped with specialist elderly-care skills and should complement rather than compete with local residential-care staff. He noted the city has about 380,000 foreign domestic helpers, but the Social Welfare Department currently offers only around 1,000 subsidised basic-care training places of about 10 hours each, far short of demand.
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