Getting a long-term tourist visa from Canada

Hi there,
My husband and I are will be spending a month in Singapore, and then hoping to go to Shanghai, China for a longer period of time (up to 1 year). we have 2 questions that we are having trouble finding an answer to:

1. We don't have a flight to China yet; we'll be in Singapore for 1 month, booking our flight then; can we still apply for one now in Canada?
2. We'd like to stay in China for up to 1 year; can we apply for it for that length of time?

Any advice woudl be helpful!! thank you