Communicate with a client?
Yes, you can communicate with any client you have worked with on Upwork. Whether you have an open contract, whether or not the contract is paused, or if a job was cancelled. None of these things restrict you from communicating with a client.
You can begin communicating with a client using the Upwork messenger tool as soon as a client responds to one of your job proposals. Which means even before you are hired.
You may also communicate with a client through other means (Skype, phone, email, etc.)
What you are NOT allowed to do is accept any payments off-platform.
If a job was cancelled, then it means there is no contract. So, by definition, you may not do any work for the client until they get an actual contract set up and hire you with it.
So if you see "job was cancelled" or "payment not verified", you should not IGNORE these things. You may still communicate with a client.
But that communication should be pretty simple, something along the lines of:
"Fiona: Thanks for your note. I'm looking forward to working on this project. When you get everything sorted out, send me an Hire offer. I'll be able to see that you're payment verified, and then I'll accept the offer and get started immediately on this."
