Emergency relief workers in Edmonton and Calgary are trying to keep the homeless warm this weekend during a cold spell that likely earlier led to the deaths of two people.

The weather, which has felt like -25 C to about -35 in the past few days with the wind chill factored in, prompted Edmonton's Emergency Relief Services to put out a call for blankets, jackets, hats and gloves.

The agency toured Edmonton's inner city on Friday night to hand out the items, said spokesman Richard David.

"I'm hoping that the Edmonton Emergency Relief can give aid to those that are surviving in the cold weather just to kind of give them a little bit of a boost," David said.

"Because you know when you get cold and you freeze you get down, you know. We're just trying to bring their spirits up."

David said while the agency is being flooded with warm clothes, more are needed. He said workers will continue to hand out clothes to the homeless until the cold snap ends.

On Thursday, RCMP officers in Spruce Grove, west of Edmonton, found the bodies of a man and woman inside a broken-down school bus.

The Mounties said it was probable that the pair died of carbon monoxide poisoning from running a propane heater to heat the inside of the vehicle. The autopsies will be done in a few days.

On Friday, the call went out for warm clothes and blankets in Edmonton as the temperature dropped to -33 C with wind chill factored in.

The City of Calgary opened an emergency temporary warming shelter for 300 people as of Friday night until the cold snap clears after all the shelters filled to capacity.

The forecast calls for continued cold into the following week for most of the province. On Monday, it was expected to feel like -37 in Calgary and -33 in Edmonton.