I had a Norco Drop in 2003, a bike which I dearly loved. I remember them being quite new to the UK at that time and I didn't see many others about. At that time one bike was all I could afford and the Norco did me proud for DH, trail centres and XC (even with Jnr Ts and weighing a ton!). Alas, like all the bikes I love, that Drop was eventually stolen. I think their bouncy bikes are fairly popular with the yoofs - the kind that like North Shore and skinnys and saying "knarly".
The frames may be from the far east, but I'm fairly sure my bike was assembled in Canada. I ordered it in late 2002 and remember waiting ages for it to arrive and being told it was on its way from there. I did a quick wikipedia search and it appears the brand has a history in Canada going back to the 60s. The image is of a rigid hardtail - not what I think of when I think of Norco!