A counsellor says there's growing frustration in the community when people are seeing others not following health guidelines amidst COVID-19.

Helping loved ones understand the seriousness of their actions is becoming more imperative as, on Thursday, the federal government announced they would be enforcing the Quarantine Act, which would mean travellers returning to Canada could face fines and even jail time if caught breaking mandatory self-isolation.

Anyone returning to Canada is legally required to go into self-isolation for 14 days.

Clinical Director at Recovery of Hope Terry Warburton explains if a loved one is ignoring the gravity of the situation, the best approach is a loving one, backed up with facts and information.

"Sometimes we just have to come at those kinds of things from the angle of, "I know you don't think these things are important, but they are really important to me. Do you think you could, for my sake, do this?" Sometimes you have to work within the context of the relationship," Warburton says.

She notes some people may be acting out because they're struggling to process the additional stress.

"For some of us, it softens us and we become aware of how we're feeling... for others it can harden them because the brain has too much to take in. When someone operates from that place that's often when you get resistance," Warburton explains.

"We have to work really hard at coming from a warm, kind, caring place."

Warburton says how you communicate is often just as important as the information you're trying to share.