FIV (cat AIDS) and FelV (viral and transmissable Leukaemia) is very common in the stray cat populations here. Stray cats mostly live very short lives. Cat parvo occurs frequently and wipes out large numbers of cats. And yes you can vaccinate against most of the cat illnesses, but there are some that the vaccines aren't effective against
If it is possible for you to rent out your property in Canada and not sell up, you could have an income stream and the option of returning home in a few years if you find that Thailand isn't for you. A lot of foreigners move to Thailand anticicipating that they are moving to paradise and will live here forever. Many are gone within 2 years. Even just coming for a year isn't really enough to know if it is right for you, you will still be in holiday mode and likely seeing things through rose coloured glasses/spectacles
Bring some waterproof shoes for rainy season. No matter how much you try to protect your shoes/sandals, inevitably they will get wet and ruined if they are leather
I think you are confusing the 12 month Non immigrant OA (often refered to as a retirement visa) which can only be obtained in your own country with medical certificate, police check, and health insurance for the entire duration of the visa. The non O is a 3 month visa which can be obtained in your own country if you are over 50 years of age. It is exactly the same as the non O that you can get at an immigration office in Thailand based on being over 50 years old. It can be extended for for 12 months once in Thailand if you meet the financial requirements. It is also significantly cheaper than the "retirement" visa (non immigrant OA) and does not require all of the paperwork of the OA
You can't put your child on your husband's retirement visa. If your child attends international school (expensive) you could put yourself or your husband on a Guardian visa. Need to have 500,000 baht in the guardian's bank account to be eligible for this visa. Someone else posted in the last week considering opening a coffee shop and was told that Chiang Mai has over 1000 coffee shops. The market is pretty saturated unless you can offer something different to your competitors. In the past 7 years I've lost count of the number of coffee shops that have gone broke
Scoot also fly to Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia, if you were planning on travelling to any of these countries. You can book an onward flight out of Thailand on a date that fits within the 30 days if you enter visa exempt or within 60 days of you enter with a single entry tourist visa, then after you do an extension in Thailand you can move your flight inexpensively to the date you really want to travel, to the destination on your ticket